Voice From The Past
To The Editor:

I recently found an old audio tape interview of my late father, former City Councilman and Honorary Mayor of Astoria, Joe DeMonte. The interview was done in 1969 by WNYC's show, "The Veteran's Voice".

My father served his country proudly in WWII, and with Veterans' Day approaching, it seemed particularly touching to hear him discuss the treatment of Vietnam Veterans. Unfortunately, it seems that little has changed in all these years.

With Memorial Day approaching I thought I should share those thoughts, not only as a reminder of my father's devotion and work for his community, which focused on veterans' affairs, but also as reminder of how much more we need to do for today's veterans. He called the treatment of veterans "shameful" and said that they were the most "neglected veterans that ever returned from any war". How sad for us as a country that today's veterans have to fight for the care they so deservedly earned. I'm sure he would wish that our Iraqi veterans would receive a form of "G.I. Bill".

My father, a homeless child, growing up on the streets of Astoria, was never bitter, he turned his experiences into a call to duty from his heart. As he said in the tape, he was "interested in politics and people". His goal was the "betterment of the community and its people" and he was devoted to Veterans' affairs.

My sister, Cynthia DeMonte, and I are beyond proud of our late father, how he struggled with adversity to become the great man, father, husband and community leader he was. In hearing his voice on this tape for the first time since he died 35 years ago, we both cried, not just for his loss, but also with pride for all he did, for all he believed.

We are so thrilled that the community board recently unanimously voted to name [the intersection of] 31st Street and Broadway in his honor and look forward to many friends in the community, civic leaders and city officials to join us in our celebration. Sincerely, Claudia DeMonte Manhattan