Gettysburg to welcome wounded soldiers for annual Memorial Day Parade

(Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) - 5/12/2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE �

 

CONTACT:

Robert J. Monahan Jr.                                                                         

(717) 334-0084 (office)                                                                      

(202) 225-3307 (cell phone)

[email protected]

 

Charles Kuhn

(717) 259-6156

 

 

There�s no more appropriate place to celebrate Memorial Day than in Gettysburg, Pa.

 

For the sixth straight year, soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan from Walter Reed Medical Center will be among the thousands in Gettysburg to attend the 142nd annual Memorial Day Parade, the nation�s oldest, on May 25th.

 

This year, the Grand Marshal of the parade will be Judge William Webster, former director of both the CIA and the FBI. (A biography and photograph on William Webster is attached).

 

The wounded soldiers will begin the day with an escort from the Pennsylvania/Maryland border by several local police departments, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Patriot Guard. They will arrive at 10:30 a.m. at Gateway Gettysburg for a welcoming ceremony which will include dignitaries; community veteran�s organizations; Sons of Union Veterans Color Guard; VFW Post 15; the Albert J. Lentz Post 202 of the American Legion, and the Gettysburg High School Band.

 

The welcoming ceremony will include a benediction by the Rev. Dale E. Williams (U.S. Navy, Ret.), remarks and a key to the city by Gettysburg Mayor William Troxell, and a 21-gun salute.

 

At 11:30 a.m., the soldiers will attend a lunch at the Wyndham Gettysburg. After lunch, the soldiers will participate in a private tour of Gettysburg National Military Park.

 

The 142nd annual Memorial Day Parade will begin at 2 p.m. at Lefever Street in Gettysburg and head northeast to Middle Street, turn west on East Middle Street and south on Baltimore Street to the Soldiers� National Cemetery. The wounded soldiers will watch the parade from the corner of Baltimore Street and Steinwehr Avenue.

 

�This is a tremendous opportunity to honor and give thanks for the sacrifices these soldiers have made for their country,� said Robert J. Monahan Jr., an organizer of the event.

 

At 3 p.m., a Memorial Day Ceremony will take place at the Soldiers� National Monument in the cemetery. The keynote speaker will be William Webster.