Photo Courtesy of Jeff Richman
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Many people in this area have family and friends who served our nation during World War II, and some of them are buried in Green-Wood Cemetery. Green-Wood is asking for your help in identifying them so they can be publicly acknowledged and commemorated for their service.
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GREEN-WOOD LAUNCHES PROJECT TO FORMALLY RECOGNIZE ITS WORLD WAR II VETERANS
Landmark Cemetery Seeking the Help of Families and Friends to Identify and Honor WWII Veterans Interred at Green-Wood
(FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Brooklyn, NY) – To mark the 80th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War II, Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery
today launched its World War II Project, an effort to identify and
honor Green-Wood’s permanent residents—military, medical, and
civilian—who bravely served to protect our country in the European and
Pacific Theaters and at home.
Volunteers and staff, under the direction of cemetery historian
Jeff Richman, will pore through Green-Wood’s extensive archival records
to identify men and women who served our country during World War II.
Because burial records or gravestones don’t always indicate military
service, the team will also utilize the public records of military
pension applications, New York State records, and all other available
resources.
Green-Wood is asking for the public’s help. Richman noted,
“Identifying the veterans is an arduous process. Our dedicated team will
spend countless hours on this important project. But you can become an
important partner in this effort just by letting us know if you had a
relative or friend who served in WWII and is interred at Green-Wood.
It’s a simple way to preserve and honor their history.”
Anyone with information about relatives or friends who served in WWII and are interred at Green-Wood should email history@green-wood.com or call 718-210-3045 with as much information as possible, including:
- Name of serviceperson
- Date and place of birth
- Date and place of death
- Service details (for example: infantryman; Marine; pilot; nurse; civilian contractor, etc.)
- Lot number at Green-Wood
- Contact information for family
- A photograph of the serviceperson
Green-Wood President Richard J. Moylan said, “The lives of our Greatest Generation must be memorialized. Green-Wood is committed to doing all we can make sure their stories are told.”
Green-Wood will compile an online, searchable database of the
veterans along with a short biography on each. Richman will also create
public programming and tours to honor the veterans’ service. The first
tour will take place on Memorial Day 2021.
Richman noted that the WWII Project follows the success of
Green-Wood’s two other initiatives on war veterans. The WWI Project
identified over 200 veterans buried at the cemetery. In the Civil War
Project, volunteers helped identify more than 5,000 Civil War soldiers
interred at the Cemetery. Green-Wood is the largest burial ground of
Civil War veterans north of the Mason Dixon Line.
The United States entered WWII on December 8, 1941 in the aftermath
of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Germany declared war on the U.S.
three days later on December 11. Between 1941 and 1945, 326,000
Brooklynites, or 12% of Brooklyn's total population, served in the war.
The number represented 58% of Brooklyn's males between the ages of 18
and 37.
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About Green-Wood: Incorporated in 1838, Green-Wood
Cemetery stretches across 478 pastoral acres in Brooklyn and boasts
extraordinary works of 19th-century sculpture, statuary and
architecture. Home to thousands of historic figures, Green-Wood Cemetery
offers tours of its grounds, concerts, book readings and other public
events throughout the year. Green-Wood has been designated a National
Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior. The
Green-Wood Historic Fund is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit
membership organization created to maintain Green-Wood’s monuments and
buildings of historical, cultural, and architectural significance; to
advance public knowledge and appreciation; and to preserve the natural
habitat of one of New York City’s first green spaces. For more
information, please visit www.green-wood.com.
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Green-Wood Cemetery
500 25th Street
(718) 210-3080
info @ greenwoodcemetery.org
