Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

The city of Syracuse will construct a new monument in Kirk Park next year dedicated to veterans of color.

Kirk Park is located on 33 acres in Syracuse’s Southside neighborhood. Herb Dunmore, a Vietnam War veteran and Syracuse resident, said the Kirk Park Minority Veterans & Service Members Memorial aims to educate and bring together the community.

The monument’s main purpose is to honor and raise awareness about the sacrifices Syracuse veterans of color have made for their country, said Brian Messe, a member of Syracuse’s Parks and Recreation Department.

The memorial’s placement in the park is especially impactful because of the Southside neighborhood’s history of being marginalized, Dunmore said.

“It’s been in an impoverished neighborhood, it’s been neglected for a number of years,” Dunmore said. “This area is underutilized, the people here don’t know about their history or the work that their fathers, grandfathers, uncles and aunts have done to support the United States of America in the service.”

Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966, Dunmore fought in Vietnam for a year and received a Purple Heart after being wounded in action. As an African American veteran, Dunmore is one of the leaders on this project, which he said aims to honor military members of color.

“The idea for this project came to me through former city councilman Mike Atkins, who told me that ‘we should have something down at Kirk Park,’ and I said, ‘absolutely, let’s get started doing it,’” Dunmore said. “From there, it all blossomed in regards to how and what we should do.”

The City of Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs has been working with Dunmore and Atkins to help achieve their goals for the memorial. Messe is part of the team working on bringing the monument to reality.

“We have a few memorials already, but none dedicated to minority groups,” Messe said. “We came together with the Dunbar Post (American Legion) a few months back and conversations began in regards to locations.”

The memorial specifically aims to commemorate the influence of Black service members, who have been overrepresented in the military since it was first racially integrated, Dunmore said.

During the Vietnam War in 1965, African Americans filled 31% of all ground combat battalions, while the population in America was just 12%, according to the African Americans Veteran Monument organization. In 2022, Black service members made up 20.3%, or 93,874, of all active duty, according to U.S. Army data.

Kirk Park was chosen in part to attract more visitors to the park, Dunmore said. Anne Downes, a public information officer for the Department of Parks, Recreation & Youth Programs, said she anticipates the monument will begin construction in 2024.

“We want to honor those who have come before us — those who have passed, whether in relation to their military operations or not,” Messe said. “It’s also important to inspire those who will be looking for a future career in the military branch.”

Messe said the park memorial will also help facilitate relationships between veterans and their families in the Syracuse area. Robert B. Murrett, a veteran and Syracuse University professor of practice in the Public Administration and International Affairs department, said the memorial is meaningful for veterans and their families going back several generations.

“From Colin Powell on down, there’s been no shortage of sacrifices that people of color have made for their country,” Murrett said. “It’s important that they’re being recognized for their service.”

The memorial will also serve to educate Syracuse residents on the city’s history of soldiers who have served their country, Dunmore said.

“The (purpose of the) memorial is to develop a sense of community for our community,” Dunmore said. “We’re trying to recognize the soldiers — women and men — who have served the United States of America, and all too often, we don’t know what they’ve done. We hear a lot of rhetoric, but nobody knows because they haven’t seen anything.”

The Syracuse City Common Council allocated $250,000 to the memorial construction project, which is currently still in the community engagement and design phase. The funding came from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“Younger people just don’t know, and we’re trying to infuse in them a sense of community, a sense of belonging, and a sense of pride, through the education,” Dunmore said. “And this project in itself will generate that in our community.”

Published on September 19, 2023 at 12:09 am