Councilwoman Berland (center) with veterans and volunteers from the community at the Henry Stimson Memorial at West Hills

Saturday, August 14^th – Councilwoman Susan A. Berland continued her "Keep Huntington Beautiful" campaign by leading a cleanup at the Colonel Henry Stimson Memorial at the West Hills County Park. The enthusiastic volunteers planted perennials, trimmed bushes, raked and cleaned underbrush around the memorial, and built a small stonewall around the flagpole. Representatives from the Huntington Veterans Advisory Board, the Northport and Huntington American Legion Posts, the Nathan Hale and Elwood/Commack VFW centers, the Navy Sea Bee Veterans of America and the Jewish War Veterans as well as Girl Scout Troop 1421 joined in the effort and thereafter held a wreath laying ceremony with the Huntington Detachment Marine Corp. League Color Guard under Commandant Bill Ober.

Henry Lewis Stimson (1867-1950) of West Hills, the greatest American statesman to reside in the Town of Huntington, served as the U.S. Secretary of War during all of World War II. A lifelong Republican who had served as President William Howard Taft's Secretary of War and as President Herbert Hoover's Secretary of State, Henry Stimson gave the wartime cabinets of Democratic Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman their most preeminent bipartisan participation.

When Henry Stimson first was sworn in to lead the War Department, the U.S. Military numbered less than 75,000 soldiers. Under his leadership, it grew to over fourteen million and the United States achieved its greatest military success. Using his connections as a former Secretary of War, Henry Stimson abandoned a lucrative Wall Street law practice and saw combat duty as a colonel, who at age 50 commanded an artillery battalion in France during World War I. Stimson in his seventies served between the President of the United States and General George C. Marshall in the direct chain of command of the U.S. Army during World War II.

Known as Highhold, the 100-acre Henry Stimson homestead in West Hills is now part of West Hills County Park. The flagpole, which adorns a memorial to Secretary Stimson in the park, was recently replaced through the good efforts of County Executive Steve Levy.

"Henry L. Stimson was a commendable veteran, an influential leader and a proud resident of the Town of Huntington," says Councilwoman Berland. "We are fortunate to have several generations present to commemorate the life and accomplishments of Colonel Stimson. Our volunteers did an excellent job of reconstructing a memorial fit for this American hero."