thedrifter
05-13-08, 07:33 AM
Bronx resident has war museum
BY DORIAN BLOCK
Tuesday, May 13th 2008, 4:00 AM
Nazi motorcycle gloves, a box labeled "beans with frankfurter chunks," and a knife made out of the propeller of a downed Kamikaze plane. They are just some of the small relics of war Bronx veterans have brought home over a century, and Joseph Garofalo is fighting to find them a home.
The 87-year-old retired carpenter and lifelong Bronx resident has created an eclectic exhibit of more than 100 items - what he loosely calls the Bronx Veterans Museum.
It is currently housed in a corner of the sitting room at the John Dormi & Sons Funeral Home on Morris Park Ave.
The exhibit's most popular feature is two growing binders filled with photos of Bronx veterans, dropped off by family members or the vets themselves.
New this month is a showcase, paid for by veterans, filled with uniforms from the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force from World War I through the Vietnam War.
"People come in almost every day," said Terry LeVoci, office manager of the funeral home. "They want to look at pictures or artifacts. They are drawn to it."
Garofalo would like to find a permanent display area in the Bronx.
"There's no room for veterans. Everybody turned us down," he said, referring to places like Fort Schuyler, SUNY Maritime College and the Huntington Free Library.
Garofalo said his most recent attempt is the Veterans Health Administration Hospital on Kingsbridge Road, which has not turned him down yet.
Anyone with artifacts to donate or looking for more information may call the funeral home at (718) 863-2000.
Ellie
BY DORIAN BLOCK
Tuesday, May 13th 2008, 4:00 AM
Nazi motorcycle gloves, a box labeled "beans with frankfurter chunks," and a knife made out of the propeller of a downed Kamikaze plane. They are just some of the small relics of war Bronx veterans have brought home over a century, and Joseph Garofalo is fighting to find them a home.
The 87-year-old retired carpenter and lifelong Bronx resident has created an eclectic exhibit of more than 100 items - what he loosely calls the Bronx Veterans Museum.
It is currently housed in a corner of the sitting room at the John Dormi & Sons Funeral Home on Morris Park Ave.
The exhibit's most popular feature is two growing binders filled with photos of Bronx veterans, dropped off by family members or the vets themselves.
New this month is a showcase, paid for by veterans, filled with uniforms from the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force from World War I through the Vietnam War.
"People come in almost every day," said Terry LeVoci, office manager of the funeral home. "They want to look at pictures or artifacts. They are drawn to it."
Garofalo would like to find a permanent display area in the Bronx.
"There's no room for veterans. Everybody turned us down," he said, referring to places like Fort Schuyler, SUNY Maritime College and the Huntington Free Library.
Garofalo said his most recent attempt is the Veterans Health Administration Hospital on Kingsbridge Road, which has not turned him down yet.
Anyone with artifacts to donate or looking for more information may call the funeral home at (718) 863-2000.
Ellie