Island Park Honors War Heroes with Memorial Banners on Long Beach Road

Memorial Day marked the one-year anniversary that American Legion Post 1029, in conjunction with the Village of Island Park, launched the initiative to honor the area’s war heroes with banners.

Since the beginning of the initiative, war veterans who live in Island Park, and their families or the families of fallen heroes, have been invited to submit photos of themselves during their service to the country and the pictures are then hung on banners lining Long Beach Road.

“The people of Island Park are very proud of their family members who are veterans,” Island Park Mayor Michael McGinty said. “By this point, we’ve almost got the entire Long Beach Road covered with signs and more to come. The village residents have participated with gusto.”

The banner program is a way to honor the service and sacrifice that Island Park residents have made so that today’s generation can enjoy the freedoms it currently does, officials said. Mayor McGinty stressed the importance of honoring these veterans and making sure they are remembered.

The idea for the banner project came about last year when several members of the American Legion noticed other villages, like Rockville Centre, had put together similar projects. After some discussions, they reached out to Hometown Heroes in upstate New York a company that creates the banners and sends the completed works back for display.

“This is a way for us to recognize our loved ones, our veterans,” Jack Scully, a Vietnam War veteran, said. “It’s important that they’re not forgotten, and I think it’s a really good program that helps everyone. This is a really good way to honor them and to keep their spirits alive.”

Pat Martin, commander of American Legion Post 1029 and a 50-year resident of Island Park, said that the project has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. A picture of his father is attached to one of the banners, and Martin noted the pleasure that he and other residents feel about the honor this project has bestowed upon their family members.

“They love seeing their loved ones up there, it’s all positive,” Martin said.

To get a photo hung on a banner, residents may pick up an application at village hall. The cost is $200 and each applicant must provide the photo as well as the honoree’s years of service and war they served in. As of press time, nearly 90 banners have been created.

According to Robert Wilson, a member of the American Legion and nearly 70-year resident of Island Park, the banners have almost completely filled up along Long Beach Road, and the village may soon have to start doubling up banners on the light posts.

“Island Park’s a small village, and there’s an awful lot of people that have given their time, and in some cases, their lives, for the freedoms that we enjoy,” Wilson said. “And so it’s nice when there’s something out there for people to see every day. I think that helps tremendously to keep the conversation going, especially when you recognize a face up there.”

Wilson added that he’s a strong supporter of honoring those who sacrificed for the country. The banner project is a way of showing the younger generation that military service isn’t just a concept or idea, but that people from their own town, and perhaps even people they recognize, have fought for the freedoms they enjoy.

Wilson said that one banner even displays a photo of a soldier killed in action in Vietnam in 1965. The only photo of this soldier that was found was taken from a 1965 newspaper clipping.

Stories like these are a part of what this project hopes to continue achieving: a rejuvenated and continued remembrance and respect for those who served their country, honoring their memories and the sacrifices they made.