An Admirable Project

[OldGreyEagle]

I tried to post the link, but it came up empty, this was in the Allentown PA Morning Call

 

 

Allentown Scout honors those who served on D-Day

Inspiration for his monument came from late grandfather.

 

By Ron Devlin

Of The Morning Call

 

From the time he was a child, Sean O'Brien heard stories about how his grandfather, the late Bernard J. O'Brien, landed on Omaha Beach in the D-Day invasion of Normandy in World War II. Inspired by those valiant tales of war, 17-year-old O'Brien has undertaken an extraordinary project in honor of his grandfather and all the soldiers who participated in the largest invasion of World War II. He's erecting a 9-foot, 1,600-pound granite ''D-Day'' monument in Memorial Cove at Allentown's West Park. It started as an Eagle Scout community service project for O'Brien, a member of Troop 74 at St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown. But the magnitude of the young man's undertaking coming 60 years after D-Day has earned him the respect and support of Lehigh Valley veterans' groups.

''His persistence is very much out of the ordinary,'' said Nate Kline, vice president of the Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council. ''It's unbelievable what he has done.''

Kline, a bombardier in a B-26 Marauder that flew over Normandy on D-Day, will be a speaker when the monument is dedicated at 2 p.m. today. Four days before Veterans Day, the dedication has turned into a patriotic celebration replete with military pomp and circumstance. The program will include a Veterans of Foreign Wars honor guard/rifle squad, a contingent of Air Force ROTC cadets and two buglers playing taps.

O'Brien, a senior at Allentown Central Catholic, will address the gathering on how he devised the project and raised $3,000 to support it. The project, six months in the making, has its roots in the relationship between a son, father and grandfather. Bernard O'Brien rarely talked of his World War II experience. A field artillery sergeant in the Army's 29th Infantry Division, he crawled onto Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. On Aug. 29, 1944, the Evening Chronicle reported that Sgt. O'Brien had been given the Purple Heart for wounds received Aug. 8 in northern France. It was only after O'Brien died in 1986 that his son, Hugh O'Brien, began what turned into a passionate interest in World War II history. It rubbed off on his son, Sean, who's become an avid World War II buff. Hugh O'Brien, 50, is a partner in O'Brien's Really Good Food Co., which has a stand at the Allentown Farmers Market and recently opened a deli restaurant in the 1900 block of Allen Street.

Ellen O'Brien is proud of her son's Scout project. Even more important, she says, is the interest in history shared by her son and husband. Hugh and Sean O'Brien went to France in June for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. They walked on Omaha Beach, where Bernard O'Brien had dodged German bullets on the very day six decades earlier. The trip was particularly meaningful for Sean, who had never known his grandfather. Bernard O'Brien, a PPL Corp. draftsman, died before his grandson was born. In Normandy, amid rows of white crosses, Sean found inspiration for the inscription on the slab of Pennsylvania black granite. ''In honor and tribute to the veterans from the Lehigh Valley who bravely fought in the invasion of Normandy, France, to liberate Europe and preserve freedom,'' it reads. Emblazoned across the top of the stone is ''June 6, 1944'' and, under it in large letters, ''D-Day.'' Drawn from a quarry at St. Peter's, Chester County, the 21/2-foot-wide stone is 2 feet thick at its base and narrows toward the top. The front is polished. Wenz Memorial in Allentown prepared the stone and installed it Friday in Memorial Cove, an enclave of war monuments at the east end of West Park. Resting on a pentagon-shaped base, it sits to the right of the First Defenders statue. In refining his idea, Sean toured veterans' monuments throughout Allentown. He was most inspired by the Marine monument in Cedar Creek Park, a circle of sentinel-like granite stones.

O'Brien had lots of help with the project from city officials, private contractors and even the United Way ''Teenworks'' program. In the dedication program, he pays special tribute to his grandfathers ''Bernard J. O'Brien, who inspired me, and William T. 'Pappy' Vogel, a World War II Navy veteran who helped lay the foundation.'' Kline, who will present O'Brien with a citation from Mayor Roy Afflerbach, said the impact of what the young Scout has done will grow in importance over time. ''We may not fully realize its importance today,'' said Kline, a retired colonel. ''Sixty years from now, the stone will be there to remind people of the sacrifices made by the World War II generation.''

(This message has been edited by OldGreyEagle)

[dsteele]

If I were this kid's district advancement chairman I would not sign to approve his project. Not without an exclamation point and underlining my signature

 

Fantastic!

 

Just one man's opinion.

 

Unc.

[johndaigler]

THANKS, OGE!!!!!

 

THANKS, SEAN, HUGH, and BERNARD!!!!!

 

 

Lehigh Valley Rocks!!!!!!

Great Place, Great People!!!!!!

 

jd