PFC Laurence Strack Memorial Pond

PFC Laurence Strack Memorial Pond. . , This pond honors Private First Class Laurence George E. Strack (1948-1967) the first Woodhaven resident to die serving in the Vietnam War. Strack participated in many local youth league baseball teams and earned the most valuable player title. In 1966, Strack enlisted in the United States Army, received his paratrooper training and returned to Woodhaven to marry his childhood sweetheart before being assigned to the 173 Airborne Brigade., On March 3, 1967 during a combat parachute jump in Vietnam, PFC Strack was killed in a fierce firefight. He posthumously received the Combat Infantrymen's Badge, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Parachutist Badge, the New York State Conspicuous Service Medal and the Bronze Star with "V" Device Purple Heart., In 1966, two ballfields were constructed on this site at the bottom of a glacial kettle pond, a natural-bowl shaped depression. One of the fields was named after Strack in 1969., [Sidebar:] , This trail will take you around the pond. Under the direction of Parks' Natural Resources Group, a grant from the New York State Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act, and matching funds from Parks, the site was converted back into a pond. As you travel along the trail, you will first encounter a woodland buffer, and a man-made stream which cleans the rainwater before it enters the pond. The woodlands open up to the fields of native wildflowers and shrubs attracting swallowtail butterflies and songbirds. Take a moment to stop at the pond's "patio", and see if you can catch a glimpse of dragonflies, a snowy egret, a turtle basking in the sun or hear the song of a frog.