Alexander Corners Veterans Memorial
7185 N.Y.S. Route 3
Henderson, New York
(2 miles South of Henderson Harbor)

Gary Leland Rhodes of Henderson started this memorial in 1996 with the help of the
American Legion Post 586 in Adams, New York, when he read of Army Tanks being
dumped into the ocean for artificial reefs.  It took 7 years, but in 2001, a M60A3 tank
was delivered from Fort Drum to the memorial site and became the first static display.

The display honors all veterans and their families and on October 2, 2004, a Cobra
Helicopter was dedicated to members of Chapter 7, Pearl Harbor Survivors Association
and was part of a local Boy Scout's Eagle Scout Project. 

The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association meets once a year at the site and in 2005, donated
three new flagpoles for the memorial, which add much to the site.

The memorial is located on the grounds of the former Oliver Bates homestead, whose Limestone
house, built in 1820, and which is on both the New York State and National Register of Historic
Sites, sits to the South of the memorial.  Oliver Bates was an American Revolutionary War soldier
who served as a private in the forces of Massachusetts and came from Vermont to settled in
Henderson about 1807.  The area of Henderson now called Alexander Corners was settled
by many Revolutionary War soldiers that included Jonathan S. Alexander, Sylvester Finney,
and John Pettingill, and buried in Carpenter Cemetery just down the road from the memorial
are Jason Crittenton, Thomas Dobson, Captain Amasa Hungerford, Adonijah Montague,
Joseph Upton Parker, Ebenezer Sawyer, and David Whitter, along with the Oliver Bates
and John Pettingill.  In 1864, John Pettingill was among the last remaining 12 American
Revolutionary War soldiers alive in the United States.

Donations are gratefully accepted for the upkeep and upgrading of the memorial as well as
for the bringing in of new items for display, and may be sent to:

Alexander Corners Veterans and Pearl Harbor Memorial
P.O. Box 220
Belleville, New York  13611

It has been the greatest of honors to work with the men and the families and friends of
Chapter 7 Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, and to meet and talk with all the veterans
and their families who have stopped in for a visit.

"IF AT THE END OF THE DAY WE ARE ALLOWED ONLY A FEW WORDS
TO SAY, OF THESE MEN AND THEIR DEEDS, THEN LET US SIMPLY SAY,

WHAT GREAT MEN, WHAT GREAT MEN."

-Gary L. Rhodes
In a letter to Tony Marra, PHSA
April, 2000

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