WWI Memorial Likely Returning to Warren Point School

A memorial to Warren Point neighborhood residents who fought in World War I may soon return to the school, decades after it was removed.

The memorial, a boulder with a plaque naming the soldiers, was likely put up sometime in the 1920s before Fair Lawn's incorporation, according to Jim Storozuk, the borough resident who proposed the memorial should be returned to the school.

"It was there for many, many years," he said.

School officials in the 1970s wanted to get rid of the memorial because of concerns it "glorified war," Storozuk said. The VFW took it and brought it to their hall on Morlot Avenue, where it remains under the ownership of the Cosmos Club.

The school put up six "peace poles" in place of the memorial.

"I have no problem with peace poles," Storozuk, a Vietnam War veteran, said. "I just think the memorial also belongs in front of Warren Point School where it always was."

Municipal and school officials both said they supported returning the memorial to the school.

"It's an opportunity for us to educate our students on World War I," Councilman Kurt Peluso said.

School board President Michael Rosenberg said it's just a matter of figuring out where on the school grounds to place the memorial.

"Now that the old VFW is the Cosmos building, [the memorial is] more fitting at the school where it once was located," he said.