thedrifter
11-17-08, 08:46 AM
Pa. veterans cemetery dedicated
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 17, 2008 6:37:32 EST
NEWTOWN, Pa. — Officials broke ground Sunday on a long-awaited veterans cemetery in suburban Philadelphia.
Sen. Arlen Specter told the crowd at the dedication ceremony that Americans owe their security and freedom to veterans, and the cemetery is one way of repaying that debt.
“This is not a favor. This is an obligation,” said Specter, R.-Pa., who introduced legislation to create a veterans cemetery in southeastern Pennsylvania more than a decade ago.
Former Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick said Bucks County is uniquely suited for a national veterans cemetery. The site a few miles from where Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware during the Revolutionary War is “hallowed and historic, pristine and pure and peaceful,” Fitzpatrick said.
Construction on the 205-acre cemetery is slated to start in the spring. Burials are expected to start there late next year.
Veterans have been pushing for a cemetery in the Philadelphia area for years. The closest veterans’ cemetery to the Philadelphia area now accepting casket burials is Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Lebanon County, 90 miles to the northwest.
Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., said many World War II veterans are making plans for final resting places, so there was an urgent need to make the cemetery a reality.
Virginia Harman, 85, of Oakford, who joined the Women’s Army Corps in 1944, also attended the ceremony and said she hopes to be buried in the cemetery. So does her 83-year-old brother, John Harman, who served with the Navy in Europe and the Pacific.
“I just want to be among the people I served with,” he said.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 17, 2008 6:37:32 EST
NEWTOWN, Pa. — Officials broke ground Sunday on a long-awaited veterans cemetery in suburban Philadelphia.
Sen. Arlen Specter told the crowd at the dedication ceremony that Americans owe their security and freedom to veterans, and the cemetery is one way of repaying that debt.
“This is not a favor. This is an obligation,” said Specter, R.-Pa., who introduced legislation to create a veterans cemetery in southeastern Pennsylvania more than a decade ago.
Former Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick said Bucks County is uniquely suited for a national veterans cemetery. The site a few miles from where Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware during the Revolutionary War is “hallowed and historic, pristine and pure and peaceful,” Fitzpatrick said.
Construction on the 205-acre cemetery is slated to start in the spring. Burials are expected to start there late next year.
Veterans have been pushing for a cemetery in the Philadelphia area for years. The closest veterans’ cemetery to the Philadelphia area now accepting casket burials is Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Lebanon County, 90 miles to the northwest.
Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., said many World War II veterans are making plans for final resting places, so there was an urgent need to make the cemetery a reality.
Virginia Harman, 85, of Oakford, who joined the Women’s Army Corps in 1944, also attended the ceremony and said she hopes to be buried in the cemetery. So does her 83-year-old brother, John Harman, who served with the Navy in Europe and the Pacific.
“I just want to be among the people I served with,” he said.
Ellie