When Gene Loparco, who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War, first began thinking about a veteran's memorial for the Order of the Schenectady chapter of the Sons of Italy he knew he wanted it to be big enough to see from the street, and big enough to encompass every U.S. veteran.

Saturday he got his wish when the Sons of Italy of unveiled its veterans memorial, a plaque stating "In Honor of all Veterans who served" written over "Sons of Italy Lodge #321." The plaque is carved into a large white boulder placed adjacent to the lodge's building at 2984 Hamburg St.