A grand tribute for fallen veterans

The Ladies Grand Army of the Republic hosted the service in Monongahela

By ERIC SEIVERLING
eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Memorial Day may have come and gone, but Monongahela continued to honor fallen military veterans Wednesday.
The Monongahela circle of the Ladies Grand Army of the Republic, Starkweather Circle 173, held its annual memorial service at the city’s Noble J. Dick Aquatorium in front of a small and somber crowd.
The ceremony was the 110th memorial service for the group, and featured Pennsylvania Starkweather President Darlene Alcorn escorted by members of Knaps Battery Civil War re-enactors as she threw flowers into the Monongahela River to honor veterans lost at sea.
A rendition of “Taps” followed the wreath ceremony.
The ceremony honored local veterans who passed away during the past year, as well as two of its own members, Chaplain Amy Brown and past-President Rose Gust, who was a 72-year member of the group and one of nine sisters who joined the group between 1939 and 1948.
The majority of deceased veterans honored were from Monongahela, New Eagle and Carroll Township, and had obituaries from Marshall Marra and Frye funeral homes.
“Monongahela is known as the city of churches,” Starkweather secretary, treasurer and the event’s organizer Dorothy Frye Walker said of holding the event two days after Memorial Day. “It’s a marathon for the veterans that decorate the churches in the city for Memorial Day. We coordinated it on Wednesday so they get a day’s rest and then join us.”
The Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, Inc. is Congressionally chartered, and is the oldest women’s hereditary organization in the United States, according to the group’s website.

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