Freedoms Foundation to host free concerts

The Freedoms Foundation is hosting two free community concerts at the Medal of Honor Grove in June.

The Freedoms Foundation will host two free concerts at the Medal of Honor Grove this month.

On Sunday, June 10, ceremonies will begin at 1 p.m. to dedicate a Medal of Honor monument for the Coast Guard. This will be followed by a concert by the United States Coast Guard Band from New London, Conn..

The Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums will be in concert beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13, at the Medal of Honor Grove. Local Vocalist Sara Agnew will also join the Thunder in concert.

Goodwill donations will be accepted to help support the upkeep of the grounds of the Medal of Honor.

The Medal of Honor Grove at the Freedoms Foundation, located on Route 23 at the edge of Valley Forge National Park, is 53 acres of land dedicated, since July 2015, to 3,447 recipients of our nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor. More than 70 of these recipients are still living. Each state of the union has an obelisk representing its state. Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia are also represented.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians also erected an obelisk representing those soldiers who were not United States citizens yet were awarded the Medal of Honor while serving in the American Armed Forces. There are 150 names on the AOH obelisk from at least 14 different countries. These soldiers could not be accredited to a state because they aren’t documented U.S. citizens — yet they defended America — some lost their lives.

The Knights of Columbus has an obelisk — located across from the AOH obelisk — that represent the chaplains who received the Medal of Honor. These two plots of land are at the entrance to the Medal of Honor Grove.

If you can’t make these events, you can make a donation to the Friends of the Medal of Honor Grove. Mail donations to P.O. Box 243, Valley Forge, PA 19481-0243. Credit card donations can be made online at www.friendsmohgrove.org

The concert address of The Freedoms Foundation and Medal of Honor Grove is 1601 Valley Forge Road, Phoenixville, Pa.

Handicap drop-off only and no alcohol permitted on the grounds. No food or beverages will be sold at either concert but guests are allowed to bring their own.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Soldiers participate in the posting of the colors at the Medal of Honor Grove during a ceremony is 2016.

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO In this file photo from 2014, members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians from Philadelphia and the Montgomery County Notre Dame Division 1 are shown at the Medal of Honor Grove, a 53-acre woodland dedicated to recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor that is located on the Freedoms Foundation’s Valley Forge campus on Valley Forge Road.