I took the image accompanying this post late last
July. It shows Monument Park in Fort
Lee, NJ. At its dedication in 1909, General John "Black Jack"
Pershing—within a decade, leader of the U.S. forces in World War I—attended the
ceremony.
This 727-acre site at Palisade Avenue and Angioletti
Place was, during the American Revolution, part of Fort Constitution, manned by
soldiers of the Continental Army under George Washington. As Winston Churchill
would say later of the Royal Air Force, “Never was so much owed by so many to
so few”—in this case, a mere 2,600 American troops against the mightiest
imperial power of the late 18th century.
It’s a busy neighborhood—and even more so with all
the development going on in town now—but I hope visitors park
their cars and take a few minutes to sit in this park and remember what we owe
these embattled soldiers from so long ago.
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