A trio of veterans groups — the Latin American Legion Post 840, Auxiliary Unit 840 and Friends of the Medal of Honor Grove — hosted a rededication ceremony at the Grove on Sunday. (photo provided by Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge)
The names of Puerto Rico’s nine Medal of Honor recipients are now etched into a seven-foot granite obelisk in Chester County, steps away from Valley Forge National Historical Park.
They are: Private First Class Fernando L. Garcia (Marines, Korea); Capt. Euripides Rubio (Army, Vietnam); Private First Class Carlos J. Lozada (Army, Vietnam); Spec. 4 Hector Santiago-Colon (Army, Vietnam); Capt. Humbert R. Versace (Army, Vietnam); Staff Sgt. Felix Conde-Falcon (Army, Vietnam); Sgt. Juan E. Negron (Army, Korea); Private Demensio Rivera (Army, Korea); and Private Miguel A. Vera (Army, Korea).
The red granite memorial replaced the fiberglass obelisk that stood inside the Medal of Honor Grove on Freedoms Foundations’ campus, a 42-acre expanse of natural woodland that commemorates all 3,500 of the country’s Medal of Honor recipients.
A trio of veterans groups — the Latin American Legion Post 840, Auxiliary Unit 840 and Friends of the Medal of Honor Grove — hosted a rededication ceremony at the Grove on Sunday.
The groups have held a memorial ceremony for Puerto Rico’s Medal of Honor recipients every year since 1978.
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest award for valor.