Memorializing the Battle of the Bulge
Wolfe?EUR??,,????'???s Pond Park
Staten Island , New York
Staten Island , New York
Contributed by Mike Browne, New York City Parks and Recreation Department and Anthony R. Moody, AIA
At the center of the monument is a star made of dichroic glass. The dichroic glass changes colors throughout the day as the sun reflects on it from different angles.
In the early Morning hours of December 16,1944, three powerful German armies plunged headlong into the hills and forest of the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg, attacking thinly held American lines along an 85 mile front. Their goal was the Port of Antwerp, some 125 miles away, to split and trap American and British forces.
Fighting in dense fog, snow, and bitter cold, American forces stubbornly resisted all out German attacks, stalled their advance and completely upset their timetable. After penetrating more than 40 miles into Allied territory, forming a salient, or ?EUR??,,????'??Bulge?EUR??,,????'?? was finally erased and the original front line restored. The allies were now poised for the final assault into the German heartland and final victory on V-E Day, May 8, 1945.
?EUR??,,????'??We did not want this to look like a typical war memorial.?EUR??,,????'??
?EUR??,,????'??+Tony Moody, A.I.A.
More than one million men participated in the battle, including 600,00 Americans, 55,000 British with Canadian, Belgium and French contingents, and 500,000 Germans. The casualties were immense. 100,00 German including 24,00 killed, 81,00 Americans including 19,00 killed, and 1,400 British including 200 killed.
The project was a public and private partnership between the City of New York Parks and Recreation and the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Chapter 52. Veterans member and architect Anthony Moody, who conceived the original design, worked with Mike Browne RLA, NYC Parks Deputy Chief of Design, to create a memorial that would include all the significant elements of this battle while paying tribute to the brave Americans who participated.
In the collage above, a cobblestone plaza surrounds the memorial, which consists of two granite pylons, and the center star. The granite wall arc behind the memorial displays the emblems of the participating military units. Additionally, a sign at the entrance of the memorial describes the elements of the memorial.
?EUR??,,????'??This was an unusual collaboration between our group, the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, and the City of New York Parks and Recreation Department,?EUR??,,????'?? noted Moody.
Moody, a retired architect, was an infantry platoon leader in World War II. He came out of retirement to assit in the design with Browne, a Landscape Architect.
?EUR??,,????'??We did not want this to look like a typical war memorial,?EUR??,,????'?? added Moody. ?EUR??,,????'??What we did was develop something that would recall the landscape and site on which the battle was fought.?EUR??,,????'??
The design of the memorial recalls the battle in several ways. As Moody intended, the landscape was created to evoke the Ardennes Forest where the battle was fought - sculpting the contours to emulate the rolling Ardenne countryside and using plant material indigenous to the Ardennes.
The plaza is wrapped in a blanket of white phlox to represent an interpretation of snow that was falling in December 1944. A triple allee1 of trees comprised of Norway spruce, Larch and Taxus ?EUR??,,????'??erecta?EUR??,,????'??? frame the space and create a forced perspective focussed on the American flag located in the distance, a reminder of the institution and values for which the veterans?EUR??,,????'??? sacrifices were made.
The monument consits of two 17-foot, 8-ton, black granite pylons holding the star in place. The pylons repersent the battle lines and star is symbolic of hope and peace. The plaza?EUR??,,????'???s inner diameter is 41 feet and its outer is 45 feet, signifying the number of days and year of the battle.
The memorial plaza and monument consists of two 17-foot, 8 ton black granite pylons, symbolic of the holding the battle line, with a dichroic glass star balanced between the columns that represent hope and peace. This special glass is laminated in a shattered glass to give the appearance of countless dancing diamonds. Reflecting nature the glass will change colors throughout the course of the day. In the daylight, the glass glows a celestial blue ?EUR??,,????'??+ at dusk, a shimmering gold.
A granite arc wall has laser-etched shoulder patches of the 45 participating units and the memorial text at its base provides a background for the slabs. There is an engraved quote by Winston Churchill, who said while addressing the house of commons following the battle, ?EUR??,,????'?? this is undoubtedly the greatest battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever famous American victory.?EUR??,,????'??
The plaza has a 41-foot inside and 45-foot outside diameter (symbolic of the days and year of the battle). In the center there is a ceramic tile logo of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge surrounded by cobblestone rings call to mind European streetscapes. Six of the rings have cobblestones imported from Luxembourg and Belgium, donated by the respective governments.
Moody said that the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge and others who have seen it, have been overjoyed by the completed project. ?EUR??,,????'??There has been only a positive and heartwarming reception,?EUR??,,????'?? concluded Moody.
Although he was unable to attend, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell sent a dedication message for the plaza.
Secretary of State
Colin L Powell
“It gives me great pleasure as an American to commemorate this monument to the heroes of the Battle of the Bulge ?EUR??,,????'??+ the battle that Winston Churchill called: the greatest American Battle of the Second World War and the most terrible, costly battle ever fought by Americans in any war,” stated Powell.
“At this particular moment in our history, when our freedom is once again being challenged, it is most important for us to remember those who fought and died to preserve it,” Powell continued. “Tony Moody, a veteran of the battle, and the New York City Department of Parks should be greatly commended for their marvelous efforts in bringing this moment to fruition.”
1Allee ?EUR??,,????'??+ from Old French, aler meaning ?EUR??,,????'??to go?EUR??,,????'?? and refers to a walkway or drive bordered by rows of evenly spaced, even-aged trees of the same species. Allees were popular in European royal parks and estates in the 17th & 18th centuries mostly in France and England. In the late 19th century in America, it became popular to create tree-lined streets on the model of the allees.
PEOPLE INVOLVED
An interpretive sign at the entrance of the memorial informs visitors about the battle and the various components that contribute to the beauty and symbolism of the design.
The following is a list of the major contributors to the success of the project.
Design: Anthony Moody, A.I. A,V.B.O.B and Mike Browne, RLA. NYC DPR
Graphics: John Pardo- interpretive sign
Constriuction supervision; Martin Christie, and Ali Abbad, NYC DPR
General contractor; Padilla Construction, Inc, A. McCarthy & Alex Holuka
Sub-contractors; Green side Contracting, inc. ?EUR??,,????'??? Dennis Hansen- Landscape construction.
Graniteworks inc. Victor and Anthony D?EUR??,,????'???Angelo ?EUR??,,????'??? arc wall and twin pylons
Westfield Sheet metal works, inc. Herbert ?EUR??,,????'??Duke?EUR??,,????'?? Plungis, Richard Basilone – Stainless steel Star frame
Depp Glass, Wesley Depp ?EUR??,,????'??? dichroic glass star
Elizabeth Grajales architectural ceramics, Elizabeth Grajales ?EUR??,,????'??? Ceramic logo
Gs images, David Fitzwater ?EUR??,,????'??? Interpretive sign.
Highbridge stone co. ?EUR??,,????'??? Black cobblestones
Memorial granite corp. ?EUR??,,????'??? Dom Milillo- granite plaque
