This Memorial Day, Monroe County is going to break ground on a new War on Terror Memorial. It will be located at Highland Park, adjacent to the existing Vietnam Memorial.
What You Need To Know
- Monroe County is going to break ground on a new War on Terror Memorial
- It will be located at Highland Park, adjacent to the existing Vietnam Memorial
- The memorial aims to give Gold Star families in Monroe County a place of solace
Staff Sergeant Javier Ortiz Rivera passed away 10 years ago this November after a roadside bomb exploded while he was on tour in Afghanistan.
“It was definitely a big loss for the family. We’re a tight knit family, so it was a big loss,” his brother Orlando Ortiz says.
The Rochester-native joined the Marines right after high school, and while his wife and daughters live in North Carolina, he’s survived by his brother here in Rochester.
“He has three kids, and they were his life,” Orlando says. “Such a fun guy, family guy, and I definitely miss him.”
His is one of many Gold Star families in Monroe County who lost someone in the War on Terror, but a new memorial coming to Rochester aims to give those families a place of solace.
“It’s something that needs to be done,” Hector Sotomayor, the memorial’s committee chairman says. “We need to, as a community, completely and utterly recognize the efforts and our sacrifices that our veterans and military personnel make on a daily basis.”
After about four years of fundraising, Monroe County is breaking ground on the War on Terror Memorial this Memorial Day.
“Not many places across the country have something like this,” Director of Monroe County Veteran Services Nick Stefanovic says. “As far as we can tell from our search, there’s nowhere in this country that has something of this size.”
Sotomayor is one of several veterans on a committee that organized the effort, which he says was made possible thanks to Senator Joe Robach, local veteran groups, donations from the community and Monroe County, though they would still like to raise about another $100,000 to cover maintenance costs.
“Not everybody comes home. And this gives a place and opportunity for family and friends to reminisce about the lives of those that didn’t make it home,” Sotomayor says.
Stefanovic, also a veteran, says this is perhaps one of the most important projects he’s ever been a part of.
“People should come down here. They should go to the Vietnam Memorial, they should come to this as it is being built and especially after to learn about what it means,” Stefanovic says.
And for the Ortiz family, it means the world.
