A Mineola resident says he was shocked to discover who was honored on a fallen soldiers memorial.

Stephen MacLeod wanted to reflect on his father who was a veteran and visited the Price of Freedom Monument in Mineola Memorial Park.

The memorial, dedicated in 2002, honors those who made the ultimate sacrifice in every American war since the Revolutionary War.

"It was Father's Day and I was reflecting on my father, Korean War, and I read every single one of them,” he said. “Then when I got down there, I was like, 'I can't believe this. It's enemy combatants right alongside Americans who lost their lives."

Among those honored were Confederate participants, Confederate POWs and fallen Confederate soldiers.

"That's mind-blowing. I can't even believe that. Like...what? That's crazy to me,” said Shannon Snyder, of Mineola. "I'm born and bred in New York so that's weird for me."

Mineola Mayor Paul Pereira told News 12 in a statement, “The monument lists all of the casualties in all the wars that Americans were involved in regardless of the politics at the time. This is not making a statement.”

The mayor says the monument, commissioned by veterans, has not generated complaints from the community in the past.

Laura Harding, of ERASE Racism, says Confederate soldiers shouldn’t even be included.

"Honoring the people who were fighting to destroy the Union is not the place to go,” she said. "They were not fighting for this country. They had already seeded and in fact were fighting for everything that was the antithesis to what America stood for and stands for."

MacLeod said he loves coming to this monument and feels the rest of it is fine.

"Ninety-nine percent of this monument is really fantastic,” he said. “It's just that one line that has to come off."

The mayor said the monument was created by veterans. However, it is maintained by the Village of Mineola.