Showing respect: Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Post 20 conducted a ceremony at the war memorial on the Abraham Lincoln High School campus on Sunday. TOM WARING / TIMES PHOTO
Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Post 20 on Sunday morning conducted a ceremony on the eve of Veterans Day at the longstanding war memorial on the Abraham Lincoln High School campus.
The memorial was dedicated in 1951 in honor of all Americans who fought in prior wars.
The words on it read, “Dedicated by this community to all those who served their country so gallantly in all wars.”
The 12-ton monument stands along the Ryan Avenue portion of Lincoln’s campus. After a 2012 re-dedication, it now also honors all those who died in wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan.
On Sunday, the structure was complemented by American flags; a Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag; flags representing the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard; and red, white and blue wreaths.
Each Post 20 member saluted the monument. The day also included prayer and an American flag-raising ceremony.
VFW Memorial Post 20, founded in 1906, is the oldest in Philadelphia. ••
