Monessen honors its heroes

By TAYLOR BROWN

tbrown@yourmvi.com

Helen D’Alfonso doesn’t remember the last time she visited Monessen.

But Sunday, as she stood in front of the newly renamed Lt. Col. Edward D’Alfonso Memorial Amphitheater in Monessen City Park with tears in her eyes, she knew she wouldn’t forget that visit. 

The Lt. Col. Edward D’Alfonso Memorial Amphitheater, named in honor of her late husband, was one of five sites unveiled with a new name Sunday thanks to the Monessen War Veterans Memorial Trust and generous support from Mon Valley residents and businesses.

In addition to the amphitheater where the ceremony took place, the walking track and the three picnic shelters were renamed to remember heroes of Monessen who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. 

The event was held in conjunction with the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Iraqi Scud missile attack on the 14th Quartermaster Unit on Feb. 25, 1991, and the Military National Day of the Deployed today. 

In May, Monessen Council unanimously approved the plan to name the SP4 Robert A. Lhota Memorial Shelter, SP4 George A. Milika Memorial Shelter, the SPC Anthony E. Madison Memorial Shelter, the Capt. John Patrick Onderko Memorial Walking Track and the Lt. Col. Edward D’Alfonso Memorial Amphitheater. 

Lhota, Milika and Onderko died in Vietnam, while Madison, a member of the 14th Quartermaster Unit, was killed when an Iraqi Scud missile struck his Army barracks during Operation Desert Storm.

Madison was one of 13 fatalities in the attack.

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