2. East Coast Memorial
New York City possesses one of three American Battle Monument Commission memorials located in the United States. Created in 1923, the Commission is the government agency responsible for “designing, constructing, operating and maintaining permanent American cemeteries in foreign countries and establishing and maintaining U.S. military memorials, monuments and markers where American armed forces have served overseas since April 6, 1917.” The East Coast War Memorial, one of the grandest war memorials in NYC, also located in The Battery, can be found east of Dewey Promenade.
Designed by the architectural firm of Gehron and Seltzer, the monument honors the 4,601 missing American service members who lost their lives in the Atlantic Ocean during WWII. It consists of a large, paved plaza with 19-foot granite pylons that are inscribed with the names and ranks of the deceased. A bronze eagle, sculpted by Albino Manca, sits on the eastern side of the plaza and represents the “act of mourning at the watery grave.”