Monthly Group Walk, East Coast Memorial- June 29, 2009

In honor or the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, our monthly group walk was to the East Coast Memorial, located in Battery Park, New York City.



Memorial Milers Jean Paul, Damian, Tom, Malik, Vivian, Amadou, and Abdol make their way to the Memorial



Malik, Damian, Abdul, Jean Paul, Amadou, Tom, Vivian, and Kamran


It's a beautiful and touching Memorial, facing the Statue of Liberty across New York harbor, the East Coast Memorial is located at the southern end of Battery Park. This memorial honors the 4,601 missing American servicemen who lost their lives in the Atlantic Ocean while engaged in combat during World War II. Designed by the architectural firm of Gehron and Seltzer, the monument consists of a large, paved plaza punctuated by eight massive 19-foot tall gray granite pylons (four each on the southern and northern sides) onto which are inscribed the names, rank, organization and state of each of the deceased.

On the eastern side of the plaza a monumental bronze eagle, sculpted by Albino Manca (1898–1976) and set on a pedestal of polished black granite, grips a laurel wreath over a wave--signifying the act of mourning at the watery grave. The monument was commissioned by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), a small independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government, and was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) on May 23, 1963.




Jean Paul, Vivian, and Amadou check out the granite pylons with the inscribed names of each of the deceased.



the reflection of Amadou, Kamran, Tom, and Abdol in the base of the memorial