A New Orleans neighborhood marker honoring World War Two soldiers erected in 1943 is being re-dedicated Sunday – the 15th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
For years now, a concrete marker at Leontine and Laurel streets Uptown got little attention – and some of it bad. The marker had been spray-painted. Its flag pole was crooked.
It got the attention of Marshall Hevron, former commander of a nearby VFW post, and his longtime neighbor and former Marine, Mike Flynn.
They discovered through research that residents had collected coins and erected the monument to honor their neighbors serving overseas. And the grassroots restoration project began.
Hevron said, "Seventy-seven years ago the people on this neighborhood decided, they really got together and they built this thing. And they built these all over the Irish Channel. And if they thought it was that important 77 years ago to put this together then it’s on us to help maintain it and to be a good steward for it and to make sure that it becomes a lasting memorial of those men and women who sacrificed so much.”
The adjacent New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club has agreed to have its security team raise and lower the flag every day.
Flynn says he’s confident the neighborhood monument will once again be embraced.
“It’s an extraordinary monument that we have been able to shepherd back to life – and New Orleans – old is new and new is old," Flynn said.
The public is invited to the one-hour rededication ceremony at 6 p.m. Sunday. Music will be performed as the flag is raised once again over the soldiers’ marker.
