$2.8M Elmhurst Park Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Opens Next Week

ELMHURST, QUEENS — A memorial honoring the 371 Queens service members who died or went missing during the Vietnam War will open next week in Elmhurst Park.

Elected officials will join members of the parks department for a ribbon-cutting ceremony the morning of Friday, Dec. 20 to celebrate the opening of the long-awaited veterans' memorial.

The campaign to build the memorial was spearheaded by the late Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 32 President Pat Toro, a veteran who died in 2014 from cancer related to the use of the chemical Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, according to the Queens Courier.

Seeing the memorial completed had been Toro's dying wish.

(Keep up with news in Jackson Heights and Elmhurst by subscribing to Jackson Heights-Elmhurst Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

As a member of the City Council, then later as Queens borough president, Melinda Katz secured the $2.8 million spent to make the memorial a reality, according to a spokesperson.

Nearly 59,000 veterans live in Queens — more than any other borough, according to the Queens borough president's office.