Danbury Toasts Purple Heart Recipients With Special Parking Spots
by Nicole Zappone Danbury Daily Voice
(Tuesday, 8/9/16)
DANBURY -- As it was officially declared
a "Purple Heart City," Danbury set aside
two special parking spots at the War
Memorial reserved just for veterans who
were wounded in combat.
Mayor Mark Boughton presented the Purple
Heart City proclamation at a dedication
Sunday of the Combat Wounded Parking
Spaces at the Danbury War Memorial at
Rogers Park.
"It is my pleasure and honor to be here
today, to be able to thank and
memorialize the contributions that our
veterans that have made throughout
Danbury and the United States," said
Boughton.
John A. Kwiatkowski, state commander for
the military order, was presented with
the proclamation at the ceremony.
The drive to establish Danbury as a
Purple Heart City was spearheaded by
local resident Lee Teicholz, whose
father, William, received two Purple
Hearts for wounds suffered in France and
Germany during World War II.
The ceremony opened with a welcome with
Mary E. Teicholz, and honor guards from
Danbury Police Honor Guard. The many
veterans in the crowd raised their hands
and received a round of applause.
The invocation was done by Deacon
Richard P. Kovacs from St. Gregory The
Great Roman Catholic Church. "We're not
at Mass, but at a blessing of the purple
heart parking spaces," Kovacs said.
"On the way down here from church, tears
came to my eyes knowing how the people
in Danbury have sacrificed and how we
have dedicated these purple heart
parking spaces," he said. Kovacs also
led a short prayer thanking those in
service and those who couldn't attend
who have received the Purple Heart.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by
Steven Johnston, and Maggie Cortese sang
the National Anthem.
A 3-Volley Salute was done by the
Danbury Police Honor Guard, while Ken
Post from Danbury Council of Veterans
performed "Taps."
Speakers included Boughton, Kwiatkowski,
Teicholz and Ret. Lt. Col. Michael
Zacchea.
The ceremony ended with a ribbon-cutting
at the two designated Purple Heart
parking spots. Dan Hayes from the War
Memorial cut the ribbon with Teicholz.
Kwiatkowski, Zacchea and Boughton.
"The Purple Heart award is the oldest
medal we have in the military -- started
by General Washington. He recognized
those who were wounded in battle and
that is how the award was founded,"
Boughton said.
Please visit our Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/combatwoundedparking
for more information.
Click
here to watch the dedication
ceremony on YouTube.
Click
here to download event program.
History
On
December 6, 1935, voters rejected a
proposal to turn the Danbury airport
into an athletic park. The vote was
sparked by complaints of noise generated
by the airport. However, the vote
focused community attention on the
shortage of playgrounds and parks in the
city. The local Lions Club pushed the
previously rejected idea of the City
accepting a donation of 20 acres of
swampy land at the intersection of Main
Street and South Street from Cephas
Rogers. Rogers was a local industrialist
who was hard hit by the Depression. The
donation would be made for forgiveness
of his $6,000 tax debt. The Common
Council accepted the offer, and applied
to the Works Progress Administration for
funds to drain the land and build access
roads and athletic facilities. Two
hundred workers began work in 1937. The
project was finished in mid-1940 at a
cost of about $175,000, $30,000 of which
the City paid. Cephas B. Rogers Park
opened in the spring of 1941.
Over the years, the City acquired
additional acreage to increase the size
of the park.
The Danbury War Memorial was built in
1951 and was designed and built in honor
of the men and women who fought in World
War I and II. Just after World War II
ended, every morning, students at
Danbury High School put their pennies
and nickels in a pot to fund a memorial
to honor those who so recently served
their country.
Information
Contact Info
City of Danbury Veterans Affairs
23 Memorial Dr
Danbury, CT 06810
Email: Lee Teicholz
info@combatwoundedparkingspaces.org
or use our
Contact Us form.
Directions
From New York
Interstate 84 - Exit 5
Straight through stop sign to traffic
light
At light take right onto Main Street
Follow to end
Last light on Main Street straight into
Rogers Park
War Memorial is the first building on
left
From Hartford/New Haven
Interstate 84 - Exit 5
Take right at light onto Main Street
Follow to end
Last light on Main Street straight into
Rogers Park
War Memorial is the first building on
left