Where is Mt. Morris?

Where is Mt. Morris? Who cares? What is Mt. Morris? Well, let's take a look. On Sunday, the New York Times magazine did a story on the town of Mt. Morris, New York: a very small town of only 2800 souls, living on the fringes of American life in an attempt to preserve a small town lifestyle. The focus of the story is a retired NY City detective turned real estate developer: Greg O'Connell, a 68 year old Irishman from Queens,NY. He grew up in a family of cops, firemen, and teachers. He attended college at the SUNY campus in Geneseo, and got a degree in education. He started buying property along Brooklyn 's waterfront, an area known as Red Hook. He bought, bought some more, and then bought even more almost 30 years ago. And he's made money-lots of it. Now he is assisted by his two sons, who run things in Brooklyn while he works in upstate New York, 40 miles south of Rochester, where he now lives with his wife.
He owns 20 building in Mt. Morris, and is looked upon as the town's savior. Maybe. While a new look begins to take form, it will take time before the citizens of Mt. Morris will render a decision. Why does this matter? Why should we even look twice at Mt. Morris?
Tucked into a corner of Mt. Morris is a monument. Not a large monument, but a well designed, tastefully built memorial to American military veterans of all wars, one in particular.
The monument was the work of a group of locals and one in particular: Roger Yencer, a former Marine who served in Vietnam with the 3rd Marine Division around Khe Sahn and Danang. He never forgot his buddies, four Marines who did not return home. A contractor, he helped place the stones, the plaques, and the flags that commemorate the service of those Marines almost 43 years ago. The memorial was dedicated 4 years ago with many Marines in attendance along with family members of some of those named on the stones. In particular, the Riordan family of new Hampshire, the relatives of George Riordan, Navy corpsman who served with Fox Co. 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine regiment.
So, it is appropriate that Mt. Morris is recognized today as a place to know.