News

Veterans get $5K for memorial repairs

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO
WWII Army vet Harold ‘Smokey’ Schaefer (from left), 91, WWII
Army vet Riverhead Combined Veterans Committee head Gene
McSherry, Congressman Tim Bishop, Vietnam vet Richard May, 78,
and WWII Army vet Frank Russo, 91.

Congressman Tim Bishop handed over a $5,000 check Saturday to the Riverhead Combined Veterans Committee for work on the World War II and Korean Conflict memorial on the grounds of Pulaski Street Elementary School.
The memorial, which was built in 1943, is in need of $50,000 worth of repairs to fix linear cracks in the walls, replace the walkways there and fix the monument base, members of the committee said.
The Honor Roll on the wall had 1,185 names of those who served from Riverhead and Riverside, but had to be removed because it was a composite material that had water damage. Committee head Gene McSherry said he hopes eventually the memorial will be completely restored and the town of Riverhead will maintain it.
— BARBARAELLEN KOCH