Pa. Iraq and Afghanistan memorial fundraiser

On Saturday, March 31 a group of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans and supporters will host a fundraiser for a memorial for all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan. This Pennsylvania Global War on Terror Memorial will be built near the Korean and Vietnam Memorials down at Front and Dock Streets in Philadelphia for those

killed in action. So the land for the memorial is already in place. Now funds are needed to build the memorial

This memorial will represent all 288 Pennsylvanians who were killed in action or killed in that theater of war either by accident or other injuries. Here in Montgomery County several have given the ultimate sacrifice and those names will be engraved into the memorial so we Never Forget Who gave All.

John Todd, who serves in the United States Marine Corps and never made it home. John was severely injured by an IUD serving in Iraq. In his younger days John played in the Bridgeport Little League and I had the privilege of coaching John for several years. Family, friends and the residents of Bridgeport honored John’s ultimate sacrifice with a memorial at Bridgeport Park. And there are others here in Montgomery County who also never made it back home and this is something that we can help honor and remember these young men and woman with this special memorial .

This war on terrorism is the longest war that America has ever been in and those veterans who have made it home want to have something so that others never forget and this is something that everyone can contribute to by either attending or making a donation to the memorial .

The event will take place on March 31st from 7 to 11 at the Army National Guard 56 Brgd Group Unit off of Routs 1, on Southampton Road in Philadelphia. Ticket s are $35 each and they can be purchased by calling 267-591-3314, going to Facebook PA Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial Beef and Beer or go to Buy tickets for PA Iraq and Afghanistan Memorial Beef and Beer Benefit at PA National Guard Armory, Saturday 31 March 2018. Also online there is a lot more

information about making donation to the memorial if you can’t make this event. Just log onto https:// www.gwotmemorial.org/ gwot-memorial.

The Mission of the GWOT is to provide the funds and coordination efforts to build the Pennsylvania Global War On Terrorism (GWOT) Memorial in Philadelphia alongside two of our existing tributes to our fallen warriors: Korean War Memorial and Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial. With your support we can get this done.

For Digital First Media

SUBMITTED PHOTO John Todd USMC, a Bridgeport native, was killed in Iraq by a IED.