 WWII Memorial Committee
On July 4th, 2006, we
dedicated the WWII Memorial to honor the veterans of WWII: your fathers,
brothers, uncles, and aunts. They fought for you, their families, and
their country.
The WWII Memorial Committee has erected this memorial to
honor our veterans, both men and women, and the merchant seamen that
served their country so nobly.
This was a very trying time for the home front, too. This memorial also honors the mothers, fathers, and wives of these heroes. They mourned
their tragic loss when their loved one was killed or missing in action.
They too put in great effort to win the war. They suffered rationing of
clothes and food such as butter, meat, oils, and sugar. Gasoline and
tires were rationed. Many households planted victory gardens to
supplement the food supply.
An estimated 30,000,000 people died because of this war.
Over 400,000 American Veterans were killed in action. Because of us,
Europe has enjoyed over 60 years of peace, something that hasn't
happened since the days of the Roman Empire. Still, over 400,000 mothers and fathers
lost their sons in battle. Some were killed in action, thousands were
missing in action, and many of these were never accounted for.
To our viewers, if you
have not yet contributed, but wish to do so, your name will be included
as an addendum to our web site and will be included in the time capsule.
God Bless America!
What's New
October 13, 2006
We now have over 600
photographs of veterans on our website. These photos will be published
in a memorial book that will be available in June 2007. These photos
have been included in our Memorial Book. This book is now available to
all those that have contributed $100 or more while they last. The
remainder may be had by any new contributions of $100 or more. The books
will be available at the Veterans Center on Emerson Avenue.
CLICK HERE TO SEE SOME RECENT PHOTOGRAPHS OF
THE MEMORIAL
July 4, 2006
The monument
was dedicated this morning
for a crowd of around 1,000 people. Many thanks to Master of Ceremonies,
Tony Verga, John Bevilacqua, and also to speakers Senator Bruce Tarr, Mayor John Bell,
Father Eugene Alves, and to our keynote speaker, Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, Thomas Kelley. Additional thanks to all of the veterans, of all
wars, that could be there to support and to honor the committee's hard
work, to the Gloucester Boys Lacrosse team for setting up the chairs in
the morning, to the Rockport Legion Band, to the current members of the Coast
Guard, to the members of the Gloucester High School ROTC and also to the
St. Peter's Fiesta Committee (for the use of their chairs) for creating
a beautiful day. The ceremony was tasteful and timely and certainly
honored Gloucester's WWII Veterans, both living and dead, and all of
their families. We hope that you will enjoy our memorial for years to
come.
VIEW SOME PHOTOGRAPHS OF DEDICATION DAY HERE!
If you know of someone who
has not yet contributed to the efforts of the WWII Committee please
refer our work to them. We are still in the process of collecting funds
for the perpetual care of the memorial and also for the planned
publication of a book reflecting information and photographs found on
this website.
Click here to see some photographs of
Dedication Day, July 4, 2006.
The Gloucester WWII
Committee would like to thank its generous donors HERE!
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