Area veterans give salute to Pillars of Honor model

SENECA — Allie Q’s first glimpse of the original Pillars of Honor model told him it was fantastic.

“I never saw anything like it in my lifetime,” World War II veteran and Marseilles native Allen Querciagrossa, known everywhere as Allie Q for short, said Sunday of the model for the National WWII Memorial in Washington D. C. “Just beautiful.”

Allie Q was one of 16 WWII veterans honored at the concluding program of the annual Seneca Shipyard Days Festival, which began last Wednesday.

More than a hundred people attended the event. Featured speaker, Navy Commander Lee Donaldson, noted the National WWII Memorial honors a generation of Americans “who changed forever the face of American life as a direction of world history.”

The Pillars of Honor is the original scale model of the memorial, and was unveiled by the Marine Detachment to climax the program. The 16 WWII veterans quietly assembled around the memorial for a group photograph.

“Wow,” a spectator shooting pictures called out to the crowd. “You’ll never get another chance like this again.”

Donaldson said the American spirit each WWII veteran displayed from 1940 to 1945 is still alive today.
“But the greatest generation — you’re the ones who defined that,” he said. “You blazed a trail that we all follow today. It’s truly a shame that it took so long to officially recognize your service.”

Quoting from statistics, Donaldson reminded the audience that between 1,000 and 1,200 WWII veterans are dying every day. Many of those still living have physical conditions that limit them from visiting the National World War II Memorial in the nation’s capitol that thanks them for their military service.

“To the veterans in the audience and their family members who fought the war at home, I sincerely thank you,” he said. “Freedom is not assured for any one of us. It requires an extraordinary level of dedication and commitment on behalf of otherwise ordinary people.”

In concluding, Donaldson thanked the WWII veterans for their American spirit and for making it possible for everyone to live free in America.

“May God bless the fallen soldiers no longer with us,” he said. “God bless the veterans, the active duty and reserve members of the Armed Forces deployed around the world today, God bless you all, and God bless the United States of America.

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