Ronald Peacock was born in Auburn on March 29, 1931. He attended West High School where he was quarterback of the undefeated 1949 Maroon football team.

Ronald served in the Marine Corps and was wounded during his service. A news article on July 28, 1952 recounts his bravery; “Ronald Peacock was wounded when enemy mortar shells burst in the door of his front line bunker. Writing to his mother Coletta Peacock he said “Two of my buddies and I were outside our bunker up on outpost when a mortar round landed just in front of us. We all dove in the bunker, and the next one landed right in the door. It threw Don Speer, my squad leader, right out of the bunker about 10 feet. He had a head wound. Bill Long, who is in my fire team, was thrown on top of me…I bandaged the other guys before I even knew I was hit. They were bleeding quite hard so I helped them first… I had to go outside of the bunker to get the bandages out of cartridge belts and I thought sure I’d get it, but I didn’t.” 

Peacock was wounded by shrapnel on his face and hands. He was awarded the NYS Conspicuous Service Cross and two Purple Hearts.

After the war, he was employed with NYSEG for 33 years as a Chief Lineman.

Denis was born in Auburn in 1929 to Joseph Joachim and Mary Carr Huntington. After graduating from East High School, he worked summers for his father’s business, JJ Harrington Concrete Company. He attended Assumption College in Windsor Ontario until he was drafted into the U.S. Army. 

Denis’ father Joseph was Director of the Draft Board #490 for Selective Service and had to give his own son his draft notice. Joseph had served in WWI as an Army combat engineer building bridges for tanks. He was wounded and received a Purple Heart.

Denis received training at Camp Kilmer NJ then was sent to Massachusetts, San Francisco, and finally to Korea on the USS Okanogan attack transport ship. There were 2200 troops on the ship for 17 days and they encountered a typhoon that lasted for three days.

Denis was on active duty in Korea from Nov. 10, 1950 to Nov. 19, 1952 in the 534th transportation/truck co. He was awarded a Korean Service Medal, two Bronze Service Stars, and United Nations Service Medal.

After the war, Denis returned to Auburn to work for his father’s company. He later moved to Florida and was involved with building the concrete platform for the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center. He returned to New York and worked as a sales manager for Barrett Paving in Watertown, and as an advisor for paving businesses.

“Auburn relatives and friends of the most Rev. Patrick J. Byrne, a former Auburnian, who was recently ordained Bishop of Korea with headquarters in Seoul, are greatly concerned and anxiously waiting news from the clergyman. Bishop Byrne, who is also papal delegate to Japan, was in danger throughout WWII while stationed in Japan but was never harmed. Relatives of the priest believe that he will stay in Seoul despite the fact that the city has been taken over by the invading Communist forces of North Korea. The Citizen-Advertiser this afternoon via the Associated Press was trying to contact AP correspondents at the scene of action to see if they could locate Bishop Byrne.” -The Citizen-Advertiser, June 29, 1950

Bishop Patrick James Byrne was born in Washington, D.C, in 1888. His parents, Patrick Byrne and Anna Seales, were Irish immigrants who met and wed in Auburn, NY, and relocated to Washington, D.C. for his father’s work in the Government Printing Office.  As a young child, Patrick Byrne moved back to Auburn under the care of his Aunt Eliza and Uncle Henry O’Neill, and grew up at 15 Van Anden Street.

He attended Holy Family School and was inspired to become a priest at a young age. After high school he enrolled in St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland and was ordained a priest on June 23, 1915. One week later he became the first priest to join the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, or the Maryknoll Society. In 1923, Byrne was granted permission to found the first Maryknoll mission in Korea. 

During WWII, Father Byrne served as prefect apostolic of Kyoto, Japan. In 1949 he was consecrated a bishop and named the Vatican’s first Apostolic Delegate to Korea, where he denounced North Korea for seizing Catholic priests. When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, Bishop Byrne refused to leave for safety and was captured and taken prisoner. 

Under interrogation, he refused to denounce the United States, the United Nations, and the Vatican, and was sentenced to a 100 mile death march in frigid conditions.   Bishop Byrne died in North Korea on November 25, 1950, suffering from pneumonia, dysentery and beriberi. He has been nominated for sainthood by the South Korean bishops.

Anthony “Tony” Spagnola was born in Auburn on November 26, 1929. Growing up, he attended programs at Neighborhood House, which grew into a love of music, art, and “tinkering.” Tony served in the Signal Corps during the Korean War. The Army Signal Corps was responsible for providing tactical and strategic communications throughout the Korean theater of operations. Signalmen surveyed the land and built communications networks of radio relay sites. Tony was awarded the Bronze Star during his service. 

After the war, Tony graduated from the Bowmen Technical School in Lancaster PA as a watchmaker in 1955. He later spent the majority of his career in quality control management for BG Sulzle, Inc. He was involved with veterans organizations and one of his fondest memories was traveling to Washington, DC with fellow veterans as part of Operation Enduring Gratitude.

A Citizen article from September 17, 2012 describes the veteran’s receival at Arlington National Cemetery; “…walking back down one of Arlington National Cemetery’s tree-shaded paths, the veterans – most hailing from Cayuga County – were greeted by random tourists who stopped to clasp their hands and kiss their cheeks. Anthony Spagnola, a Korean War veteran, said his generation received more recognition during the Operation Enduring Gratitude trip than any other time through the past 60 years. ‘We never were treated this way,’ the Bronze Star recipient said. ‘It boggles the mind.’”

Allen Baker was born on March 20, 1920 in Sennett NY. He graduated from Emily Howland Central School in Sherwood in 1938 and served in the Army during WWII as a bombardier. He was wounded in action in 1943. After the war, he returned to Cayuga County and married Ruth Wyant on September 9, 1947. 

He was recalled in 1951 to serve in Korea, where he was a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Air Force which had been formally established in 1947. 1st Lieutenant Baker was a crewmember of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 345th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomber Wing.

On February 7, 1952, the aircraft 1st Lieutenant Baker was on crashed while departing on a combat mission from Yokota Air Base in Japan. The tragic accident was the result of bad weather and an under trained pilot. A Colonel visiting from Okinawa was allowed to fly the aircraft because of his rank, despite the fact that he had less experience than the regular pilot. His lack of experience, paired with a snowstorm, led to the plane crashing just a few miles from takeoff, killing 14 and destroying houses in a village at the crash site. 

Allen was 31 when he was killed. The same day he died, his wife Ruth Wyant Baker gave birth in Auburn City Hospital to the couple’s second child, Ellen Margaret Baker. Ruth was interviewed in the hospital after receiving the news;  “‘When he was recalled last year,’ she said, ‘I didn’t think anything like this would happen.’ She said that he had been wounded in World War II and that she hoped nothing would happen this time. He felt it was his duty to go when they recalled him. ‘I remember his saying that the United States had trained him and that they had a lot of money invested in him. I’ve got a job to do he said.’”

Bobo Hardy Hydrangea

Hydrangea paniculata

1) In Memory of of Jill Levek – Planted by Stephen & Theresa Kline

2) Planted by the Board of Trustees of the Cayuga Museum of History & Art

3) Planted by John & Marti Wise

Accolade Flowering Cherry

Prunus cerasifera

1) In Memory of of James D. Brennan & Anne H. Brennan – Planted by Lisa Brennan & bill Berry jr.

Spring Snow Crabapple

Malus ‘Spring Snow’

1) In Memory of of William E. Berry, Sr. & Theresa M. Berry – Planted by Lisa Brennan & bill Berry jr.