Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial

The Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial is a public memorial in the Town of Tonawanda, New York. It is located in Walter M. Kenney Field at the northwest corner of Brighton Road and Colvin Boulevard. The memorial stands to honor the service of all veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

Initial construction of the memorial took roughly seven weeks and was completed in mid-August 2009. The memorial was formally dedicated on August 18, 2009 before a crowd of more than 1,500 people. Retired U.S. Army General and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered the keynote address. A crowd of several hundred people gathered one year later, on August 18, 2010, for a rededication ceremony to commemorate the completion of a major expansion effort necessitated by the popularity of the memorial among interested donors.

The focal point of the memorial is a seven-foot-tall V-shaped monument of Paradiso granite, standing for Veterans. The monument was designed by artist and Vietnam War veteran Ralph Sirianni. Architectural firm Carmina, Wood & Morris designed the memorial and surrounding landscape, incorporating Sirianni's monument as the centerpiece.

Granite plaques engraved with the names of local veterans hang on two angled, semicircular walls. One wall partially surrounds the granite monument, while a second wall, constructed a year after the first, wraps around the reverse of the memorial's elevated platform. The site also features seven flagpoles, one flying the flag of the United States and the POW/MIA flag, and six others displaying the flags of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine.

The memorial is surrounded by several trees and numerous park benches. Each tree and park bench bears a bronze plaque inscribed with the names of veterans, community organizations, or local businesses on whose behalf financial contributions were made to fund the memorial's construction. Adjacent to the memorial is a Korean War-era Grumman F9F-6P Cougar Naval airframe, on loan to the Town of Tonawanda from the U.S. government. The airframe was installed at its current location in May 1959 and is a well-known landmark in the community.

For more information on the Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial, please visit www.tonawanda.ny.us or call (716) 831-1001.

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