Villanova to assist in cleanup of Medal of Honor Grove
PHOENIXVILLE >> The Friends of the Medal of Honor Grove and Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge will be holding a Medal of Honor Grove cleanup on Saturday, Sept. 21.
The group is welcoming the Villanova Office of Veterans and Military Service Members, Villanova Army and Navy ROTC, the Villanova Marching Band, staff, faculty, alumni and friends as the newest community partners in beautifying, cleaning and maintaining the Medal of Honor Grove.
The day opens with Villanova Marching Band welcoming the volunteers with patriotic music culminating in The National Anthem. More than 120 volunteers, one of the largest groups to ever partner with the Grove, will add red stone along state area sidewalks, cut and chip logs, wash the state obelisks, pick up branches, and relocate ground plaques, which bear the names of Medal of Honor recipients.
Each year, Villanova University has a St. Thomas Day of Service, where more than 150 sites throughout the greater Philadelphia region host almost 5000 students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends.
This year, the Villanova Office of Veterans and Military Service Members, a new department at Villanova, wanted to create a new site opportunity. Director and organizer Michael Brown felt like the Medal of Honor Grove was a perfect choice and hopes to have the Medal of Honor Grove site as their host site for as long as Villanova does this Day of Service:
“Villanova University is dedicated to community, service and creating positive change,” said Michael Brown, Director of the Office of Veterans and Military Service Members at Villanova University. “As part of that, we honor St. Thomas of Villanova each year by having a Day of Service in his name. The Office of Veterans and Military Service Members chose the Medal of Honor Grove as our site, because it keeps the memories alive of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.” “The Friends of the Medal of Honor Grove and Freedoms Foundation are grateful for this commitment from Villanova,” said Deb Woolson, Curator of the Medal of Honor Grove. “Without our community, we could not keep the Grove in the honorable condition it is in. We welcome Villanova as our new partner.”
According to the Villanova website, St. Thomas of Villanova was known for his great charity to the poor and marginalized. The Villanova community celebrates its patron saint and his legacy of Caritas – Love – with an annual Day of Service in his name.
Each year, the St. Thomas of Villanova Day of Service brings together nearly 5,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni and their families working in partnership with neighborhood agencies to perform service throughout Greater Philadelphia. This annual event builds upon the great service performed throughout the year by the Villanova community and exists as a unique way to put its Augustinian ideals into action.
The Medal of Honor Grove was conceived by Kenneth Wells, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, E.F. Hutton, Gen. Omar Bradley, and others at Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, and the site was dedicated on the Foundation’s campus in 1964. The first four state areas were dedicated in 1968.
The Grove, 42 acres of natural woodland, is the oldest living memorial honoring the more than 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients. (All men but for one — Civil War surgeon Mary Walker.) An area of land is set aside for the recipients in each of the 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.