"Fort Greene park sunset"

John D. Hume

Did you know that the bodies of 11,500 people are buried under a Doric column in Fort Greene Park?

I didn’t until I read the New York City Parks Departments index of war memorials on its property. Turns out there are many, many of these. Click here to see the list.

According to the Parks website, “The thousands of Colonial soldiers held on prison ships anchored in the East River died of overcrowding, contaminated water, starvation, and disease, and their bodies were hastily buried along the shore. In 1808, these remains were buried in a mass grave on Jackson Street (now Hudson Avenue), near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and a fraction of these remains were transferred in 1873 to Fort Greene Park.”

If a walk in the park doesn’t say “Veteran’s Day” to you, there’s the parade, which will include a peace contingent.