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Light Rain New monument for Black American patriot Ralph Young
It was Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck who lifted a black cloth off the new monument at the Glen Cove First Presbyterian Church to officially honor one of the city’s own.
Born in 1922, Young was an accomplished student and a notable basketball player, often seen carrying books in one arm and a gym bag in the other. After graduating from Glen Cove High School, he attended Lincoln University, the first historically Black degree-granting university in the United States. He went on to attend law school on a full scholarship. But after three years in college, he felt the pull of civic duty and enlisted in the U.S. Army as an infantryman, later transferring to the Army Air Corps.
He was assigned to India to transport needed supplies over the Himalayas. On the Japanese Pacific front, he flew more than 50 missions aboard C–54 cargo planes.
On April 11, 1945, while he was on a mission flying over the Himalayas, treacherous weather caused
his aircraft to crash into the mountains. There were no survivors. Young left behind his parents and sister.
“It’s important for any family members who lost someone that they be recognized for their sacrifice.” Said Craig Osborne, Young’s cousin. “I thought it was just a simple plaque unveiling. I didn’t know it was going to be such a big event.”
Along with the City of Glen Cove and the Glen Cove Rotary, Panzenbeck said she was proud and honored to unveil the monument to memorialize Young.
Before the monument, Young had been honored in town by having a street named for him — Ralph Young Avenue, as well as the Young-Simmons American Legion Post 1765, which is also co-named for him.
David Hubbard, commander of the Young-Simmons post, said the post was founded in the late 1940s for Black veterans and carried Young’s name from the beginning. It now serves all veterans.
“It’s beautiful, and long overdue.” said Howard Stillwagon, who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970 in the First Cavalry Division infantry. “This should have been here a long time ago with all the other honorees in the city,”
The ceremony represented an aspect of inclusion. Many of the attendees spoke of the monument in the historical context of segregation. Before 1964, Black Americans whofought in wars come back home to a segregated society.
“It’s very, very important to have Ralph Young included here in Monument Park with all the other monuments,” William Richardson, of Glen Cove, said. “He certainly was worthy of that.”
Originally, the Young-Simmons American Legion donated a plaque that was on the ground in front of the Glen Cove Police headquarters.
In 2018, Panzenbeck looked through the overgrowth in front of the police station and caught the attention of police who came out to ask her what she was doing.
“I had no idea that Ralph Young had a monument that was in front of the Police Department, which had previously been City Hall,” Panzenbeck said.
As a councilwoman in 2018, Panzenbeck asked that it be moved to Monument Park, to later be restored and made part of a larger tribute.
“It was kind of a disgrace to where we had to honor him,” said Tony Jimenez, director of the city’s Veterans Affairs office and a member of Young-Simmons American Legion Post 1765. “Now he’s out of the shadows, and he’s among his peers here.”
Panzenbeck said the monument dedication was long overdue and fitting, as this year Young would have turned 100 years old. The monument is the third in the park to honor an individual veteran and the first to honor a Black veteran. It is now the centerpiece of the monument, which private donations, primarily from the Glen Cove Rotary Club, paid for, Panzenbeck said.
“I’m just really thrilled that Monument Park and Glen Cove finally represents the diversity of our city,” Councilwoman Marsha Silverman, said. “Now we’re righting the wrong. He’s with everybody else who served and paid the ultimate price.”
