Healing Garden Creates Space for Connection and Renewal

Organized in partnership with Veterans Valor and the Morristown Rotary Club, the gathering marked completion of The Gateway garden and offered a look at the larger vision taking shape: creating an outdoor setting for reflection, connection and support for veterans, active-duty service members, first responders and their families. The garden also offers civilians a place to learn about and reflect on the realities of military service.

Beyond The Gateway, on its central axis, stands “Sandalphon,” a granite sculpture by Harry H. Gordon. The planned adjacent New Life Garden will be a stone terrace overlooking the Long Meadow, signifying renewed hope, growth and community connection. The site can accommodate three future gardens, subject to community support: Point of Wound, Medevac and The Fallen. These spaces are intended to help visitors reflect on veterans wounded in combat and those lost in combat or to the conflicts carried home.

The program featured remarks by New Jersey State Senator Anthony M. Bucco; keynote speaker Tom Welsh, a Marine and Trustee Emeritus of Morristown Medical Center; and Scott Parsons, founding executive director of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Institute for Character and Leadership.

Guests gathered before stone masonry walls displaying the official seals of the six branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. At Sandalphon, Major Aaron Oliver, an active-duty chaplain in the New Jersey National Guard, offered an invocation. Attendees also paused at stone pedestals bearing bronze plaques dedicated to reflection and remembrance.

The project brings together landscaping, sculpture and gathering spaces intended to offer comfort and opportunities for community connection. The October celebration marked continuing development of the garden, with its broader vision centered on honoring service and supporting those navigating the transition toward recovery and renewed purpose.