Transit WW2 Servicemen, Many Killed in Action, Honored at 130 Livingston St.

AUGUST 13 -- Thousands of transit workers put down their tools and took up arms to fight against Germany and its allies in World War II.  A major memorial honoring those killed in action was installed in 1953 on the facade of 370 Jay Street, transit's old headquarters. Now that memorial has a new home in downtown Brooklyn. "These soldiers “left their jobs, families and homes in New York City in order to serve our country, “ NYC Transit Human Resources Vice President Patricia Lodge said Thursday. “These were ordinary people…who responded in extraordinary ways in extreme times.” Lodge made her comments at the rededication ceremony of Transit’s World War II memorial wall: an 18-foot-long stretch of granite with the carved boundaries of Asia, North America and Europe.

The towering tribute - featuring the names of the 75 bus and subway workers who died in the war – was unveiled at its new home: the NYC Transit building at 130 Livingston Plaza after being in storage for two years. The memorial originally was part of the former NYC Transit headquarters at 370 Jay St., which the agency abandoned and is now slated to be part of New York University. Honored guests at the unveiling included two men who saw combat and upon their return found work operating and maintaining the subway: Thomas Merrick, 93, and Frank Gurrera, 91.

Merrick served in Italy and France with the 92nd Infantry “Buffalo” Division, a segregated unit of renowned black soldiers.  A Howitzer gunner at first he later was promoted to Battery Clerk. “It’s good to be recognized,” Merrick said. “I appreciate it.”

Gurrera joined the Navy and unloaded tanks ashore under withering Nazi gunfire during the Allied Invasion of southern France. “Jerry was dropping bombs and straffing us with bullets from fighter planes trying to stop us,” he said. “It made for busy days.”

Merrick just retired two years ago as a stations superintendent. Gurrera, a machinist, is still on the job.

Local 100 Vice President Kevin Harrington was a featured speaker. TWU Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips, along with Transit Maintenance of Way VP Frank Jezycki, laid a ceremonial wreath as the Transit Emerald Society pipers played "Amazing Grace."

“This mural was put up out of love by co-workers who saw the empty places of their friends who didn’t come back,” Kevin Harrington said.

At least 35 of the 75 named on the memorial were killed in action, NYC Transit officials said. Others died of their wounds, diseases or other causes, officials said.

The number of transit workers who died in the war is likely greater than the memorial portrays, Harrington said.  The industry underwent great organizational changes during this period and records are incomplete, he believes. The number of city residents killed was in the tens of thousands – approximately 11,000 from Brooklyn alone, Harrington said.

“The war had a devastating effect on the Transit Authority and New York City,” he said.

The subway system was created by private companies but by 1940 was owned and operated by the NYC Board of Transportation. The state Legislature created the NYC Transit Authority in 1953 to manage all city-owned bus, trolley and subway routes.

RTO Vice President Kevin Harrington and Kevin McCawley of the Elections Department advocated for the preservation and relocation of the transit WW2 war memorial, a message delivered to MTA brass by Local 100 President John Samuelsen.