Veteran memorial planned

The Queens Chapter 32 of the Vietnam Veterans of America held an open house at their Glendale headquarters to welcome the veterans of a new era, the Veterans of Modern Warfare.
Any veteran who served from August 2, 1990 to the present, which includes Iraqi and Persian War veterans, are invited to join the new organization. This is the first chapter in the city.
The Vietnam Veterans of America is helping the new organization get started. Chapter 32, part of the national organization, recently celebrated their 25th anniversary and currently has 300 members.
Chapter 32 president Pat Toro Jr. showed the concept plan for a new park planned for the six-and-a-half acres of land in Maspeth where the old gas tanks used to be, near the Long Island Expressway.
A year ago last February, Toro presented a proposal to erect a Vietnam Veterans War Memorial to honor the approximately 450 veterans from Queens who gave their lives in that war.
The community has been one hundred percent in favor of the plan, and it has been approved by the Parks Department. The City Council has given the organization $500,000 and Senator Serf Maltese gave them a grant of $50,000 for the memorial, which will have a wall with the names of all the Queens veterans who gave their lives in service to their country during the Vietnam War.