Larchmont Historical Society Establishes
Virtual War Memorial

Larchmont has a new war memorial – on the world-wide-web. The Historical Society has established a permanent virtual war memorial that includes images of each of Larchmont’s war memorials. The Society’s goal is that each soldier whose sacrifice is honored will have an individual website that integrates information about his or her life in Larchmont and service to our nation.

The address of the new memorial is

memorials.larchmonthistory.org

The Society is initiating the project on Memorial Day 2006, and plans to dedicate the website on Veterans Day 2006. During the upcoming summer, the Society invites submissions of information from family members and civic associations to add to the site.

The Society also requests information about other war memorials that should be included, such as plaques in social organizations and houses of worship. The goal is to include all of the memorials, including those in social clubs and houses of worship, as well as the official monuments.

“It is important that future generations know and honor the men and women who are behind the names on our memorials” explained Bill Byrne, a World War II veteran who is a member of the Larchmont Historical Society Board of Trustees.

Barbara Newman, the Society President explained some of the advantages of a virtual memorial. “At the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, friends and family touch a name and remember a person. We want to provide future generations another way to touch a name electronically, and be reminded of a person through pictures, official records, and other information that is contributed to the site.”

The project includes all of the memorials in 10538 - the Village of Larchmont and the unincorporated part of the Town of Mamaroneck – as well as other local memorials that include the names of Larchmonters. Once a memorial is included, all of the names are included on the Roll of Honor. “We’ve designed the site so that we can expand and collaborate with surrounding communities in the future” explained Ned Benton, the webmaster and creator of the site.