Korean, Vietnam War Veterans Gather At Penn's Landing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - On Friday's day of remembrance, veterans from the Korean and Vietnam Wars gathered at adjacent memorials at Penn's Landing.
Retired Brigadier General Carol Eggert, who served in Iraq, was the keynote speaker at the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial:
"Today we affirm one of our most fundamental obligations, to show all who've worn the uniform of the United States the respect and dignity they deserve, no matter where they fought, or for what cause. What matters is that they fought when asked."
The Vietnam War Memorial at Front and Spruce Streets contains the names of 648 Philadelphians killed in that conflict, etched in granite on the south wall of the monument. Opposite it are ten panels depicting scenes of the war from the very beginning to the final rescue of refuges.
The U.S. involvement in Vietnam escalated in the early 1960's, ending in 1975.
Earlier, at the Korean War Memorial at 2nd and Dock Streets, 85-year old Stephen Hopkins, a Korean War vet and former POW was among those who paid respects to the 610 Servicemen from Philadelphia and four nearby suburbs who died in combat:
"Praise God that we continue to give honor to anyone who wore a uniform for the liberty of all."
The memorial includes four, central black granite pillars listing the casualties from each year of the four-year conflict between 1950 and 1953.
