In a Bronx Funeral Parlor, a Veteran’s War Memorial
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI
Published: June 10, 2008
The old marine was back on duty Thursday, standing guard over a military shrine in the Morris Park section of the Bronx.
People in the Morris Park neighborhood have contributed memorabilia that once belonged to their relatives.
Joseph Garofalo, 87, huddled with other veterans near a glass display case filled with dog tags and medals, helmets and hand grenades, and other artifacts from the two world wars, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
For the past three years, the modest exhibit of military service has been on display at a rather unusual location: the John Dormi & Sons Funeral Home.
“I went knocking on a lot of doors to make this happen, to libraries and other local businesses, looking for a proper home for all of these important items,” said Mr. Garofalo, creator and curator of what he calls, perhaps a bit grandly, the Bronx Military Museum. “This was the only place that cared enough about honoring the memory of some of the heroes who fought so bravely for our country.”
Chris DiCostanzo, 60, manages the funeral home and is a Vietnam veteran. He said he gave careful consideration to making Mr. Garofalo’s collection a part of the daily viewings. “Hand grenades,” Mr. DiCostanzo said softly, “are not something that people are used to seeing at a funeral parlor.”
The exhibit, which is contained in two glass cases, takes up a corner of the lobby of the funeral home on Morris Park Avenue.
“At first, people kept asking me how I could have this little museum in here, and telling me how it didn’t make any sense, how people would resent it,” Mr. DiCostanzo said. “But the more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense. I see young children come in here with their parents to mourn loved ones, and they slowly work their way over to the exhibit, and then these wonderful conversations start taking place about the history of our country, and the men and women who died for it.”
Mr. Garofalo, a retired carpenter who amassed his considerable collection of military memorabilia through auctions and donations, fought in the Pacific with the Fourth Marine Division from 1942 to 1945. He spends a good part of his day chatting with old friends in a neighborhood where Italian accents and old soldiers are disappearing.
Among Mr. Garofalo’s friends are three military veterans, Michael Salzano, 73, a fellow marine who fought in the Korean War, and two World War II veterans, Sal Spadafora, 87, who served in the Coast Guard, and Albert Mazza, 85, who served in the Army.
On a recent weekday, the four men sat on leather sofas in the back of the funeral home. When called upon, they take mourners and other visitors on a brief but breathtaking tour that includes American, German and Japanese helmets from both world wars, army boots from Korea, full uniforms, bayonets, knives and swords from every era, and models of classic warplanes, including a replica of the Vought F4U Corsair flown by Major Gregory (Pappy) Boyington, the American fighter ace, during World War II.
“One of us is always here, keeping a close watch on things,” Mr. Garofalo said. “When we’re not, you can probably find us drinking coffee in the bagel shop next door, talking about the old days.”
Mr. Garofalo said that often people in the neighborhood will donate items brought back from various wars by family members who have died.
“As a result,” he said, “we’re starting to outgrow this place, and now we’re looking for a new home where we can better spread all this stuff out.”
Mr. Garofalo reached for four binders atop a display case filled with a few hundred photographs and biographical information on military veterans from the area, some of whom are still alive.
“Look, here’s Joey,” said Mr. Salzano, turning to a wartime photo of a smiling Mr. Garofalo, cigarette in hand and looking dapper in his uniform. Below the photo are the words: “Joseph Garofalo, World War II veteran, United States Navy, Seabees.”
There is also a photo of Mr. Garofalo’s father, a World War I Army veteran. The caption below that photo reads: “Francesco Garofalo, Company B, 308th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division and member of the Lost Battalion.”
The Lost Battalion was a unit of 500 men who became trapped behind enemy lines in France’s Argonne Forest in October 1918, during the waning weeks of World War I, Mr. Garofalo said.
“They made a movie about it,” he said proudly.
At the end of a tour, Mr. Garofalo and his friends headed for the bagel shop.
On his way to more coffee and conversation, Mr. Mazza said in a tone somewhere between tired and sad: “I know there’s a war going on now, and I always pray for those brave soldiers. But there are so many young people today who don’t even know there was a war that we once fought in, and a war before that, fought by our fathers.
“Our weapons and uniforms may now be relics of the past,” he said, “but we’re still here, alive and kicking.”
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