Greenleaf Memorial Park

Dignitaries from the Republic of Korea and local municipalities broke ground Tuesday morning on the planned Korean War Memorial and America-Korea Alliance Peace Park, to be located at Memorial Grove Park and meant to attract veterans from around the world.“It is no exaggeration to say that the most difficult, the most vexing, the most dangerous foreign policy issue that the United States, and indeed the world, faces today is North Korea,” said U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-13.“Thank God that we stood up in the early 1950s, and stood shoulder to shoulder with South Korea, so that it at least could be a free part of that peninsula — and look at what opening our shores has done for Montgomery County, for Pennsylvania, and for America,” he said.Since 2014, members of the local Korean community have led an effort to build a memorial to soldiers and residents of both the United States and the Republic of Korea who fell in the Korean War from 1950 through 1953, and a delegation from South Korea visited the planned memorial site in 2015.Earlier this year, park organizers showed the latest versions of their plans to the public, depicting a rectangular slab depicting a map of the Korean peninsula, located inside a square patio surrounded by benches and landscaping chosen to emphasize the close ties between the two countries. Local officials took the next step toward making that park a reality this week, breaking ground on the future site of the memorial while lauding the close ties between the two countries.“Our counties are nearly 7,000 miles from one another. Our food, our customs, our languages, are very different from one another, but nonetheless, we share bonds of being free and democratic societies,” said Pennsylvania state Rep. Kate Harper, R-61.“This is a place to remember ? to remember those we have lost, but also to celebrate the bonds between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America.”Korean War veterans from local American Legion posts raised the flag and stood guard during the ceremony, as dignitaries from both countries sp... (Montgomery Newspapers)

An afternoon ceremony at Kane/Wojkiewicz Park, home to the city's Pearl Harbor memorial, paid tribute to Greenleaf as a patriot and a man of character who would leave a lasting legacy."Robert was with us every year to help us throw the honor wreath into the Westfield River," said Mayor Brian Sullivan. On this day, Sullivan was joined by Robert Greenleaf Jr. to throw the wreath for his father."I'm overwhelmed with all the support," said Greenleaf Jr. "God bless America, and everyone who loves this country as much as my father did."Greenleaf was Westfield's only living survivor of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack that killed 2,400 American service members, wounded 1,200 more and launched the U.S. into World War II.Robert Greenleaf in Nov. 2015Don Treeger / The Republican Greenleaf, born in New Hampshire, joined the Navy at 18. When he received a promotion to the rank of gunner's mate third class at 19, he was sent to a machine gun school to learn how to shoot 30- and 50-caliber machine guns.On Friday, Dec. 5, Greenleaf and his classmates completed their training on the 30-caliber weapons and prepared the more powerful 50-caliber guns for the following week. Two days later, just before 8 a.m., the Japanese attacked.With the more powerful machine guns at the ready, it took about three minutes for Greenleaf, his classmates and instructors to return fire. If they still had the 30-caliber guns set up, it would have taken 30 minutes, Greenleaf said at the city's 2016 Pearl Harbor remembrance ceremony.The Navy students loaded ammunition into the weapons, and their Marine instructors shot down three enemy planes. The man standing next to Greenleaf was shot in the foot, the only casualty in his area that day.After the attack, Greenleaf returned to the USS Craven. His discharge came in 1943, and he joined the Merchant Marines.Greenleaf settled in Westfield in 1962, when he married his wife Dorothy (Donovan) Greenleaf. They were married for 55 years. He worked for Savage Arms as a product engineer from 1964 to 1988."We were lucky to have a man of his calibe... (MassLive.com)