Friday, January 25, 2019

Photo of the Day: Monument Park, Fort Lee, NJ


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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