City Park tank memorial marks 60th anniversary

By the Mon Valley Independent
It’s unlikely anyone passing the symbolic tank memorial at City Park in Monessen at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow will realize the significance of the Flag Day moment.
But it was at that time 60 years ago — 2:30 pm. on June 14, 1959 — that the memorial was formally dedicated by Allison-Lescanac Post 1190 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Monessen.
The memorial was erected by Post 1190 as a tribute to the city’s war dead. The VFW promoted and supervised construction of the tank which was used by the U.S. Army during World War II.
A photo on Page One of The Monessen Daily Independent June 15, 1949 showed a U.S. Marine Corps color guard, city councilmen John Molnar, head of the Parks Department, and John Harhai, Vincent LaRiccia, Post 1190 chaplain, and Mickey Janicki, commander of the VFW unit.
The newspaper called the dedication ceremonies “very impressive.”
Janicki turned the memorial over to Harhai, who represented the city at the event. In accepting the memorial, Harhai said:
“There are many ways in which we can honor the memory of the departed war heroes. Our way this afternoon is this tank memorial.”
Harhai also praised VFW Post 1190 for its leadership in bringing the tank memorial to Monessen.
Keynote speaker at the dedication ceremonies was R.J. Moschetti, past commander of the 27th District and an active member of the VFW. He also had served as commander of the Greensburg VFW Post and Westmoreland County VFW commander and athletic officer. He spoke of the significance of Flag Day and the tank memorial dedication.
LaRiccia offered the invocation and Frederic Feldman, athletic officer, delivered the welcome on behalf of Post 1190.
Among those introduced by Janicki, who served as master of ceremonies, were Virginia Kurdilla, president of the Post 1190 Auxiliary; Molnar and Harhai, Paul Komar, Westmoreland County VFW junior vice commander, and John Siarnicki, Mike Petro and John Horwath, leaders of Boy Scout Troop 10 sponsored by Post 1190.
Norman Alterici was thanked for providing the public address system for the occasion.
The dedication program was coordinated by a committee composed of Frederic Feldman, William Cousins, Philip Columbus, Vincent LaRiccia, Socrates Loulis, and Elliott Bianchi.
While the tank memorial was a project of VFW Post 1190, other veterans and community organizations in Monessen have provided assistance in maintenance (e.g., painting and refurbishing) of the memorial over the years and it remains a solemn, silent tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country.