TANNERSVILLE, Pa. — Members of American Legion Post 903 in Mount Pocono held their annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Tannersville War Memorial.
Prayers were read, and gun salutes were performed to honor veterans on this Veterans Day.
"It's very important to bring to the communities the memory of what our country does for us, letting them know that freedom isn't really free," said Charles Hamberger, commander of Post 903. "There are people, the names there, who fought in the service for our country. All veterans, when they sign up, they pledge their allegiance to this county."
American Legion Post 903 puts on the ceremony. Members took over this memorial in Pocono Township back in 2014 and have held all kinds of ceremonies at it ever since.
"I think it's important because this is a symbol of all the wars we've been involved in. All the plaques around here, the benches, they all remember us for what we did and what we went through, and all the different branches of the service. Everything you see here is from a different branch of service, and I think it's very important," said Albert Compoli, a member of the Monroe County joint veterans honor guard.
Legion members tell us that continuing to honor veterans at ceremonies such as this is important, and they hope to see more young people get involved.
"I think it's important that the younger generation gets to see what happens, and they don't lose sight of the fact that if it wasn't for our veterans, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights would mean nothing to anybody," Hamberger added.
Veteran organizations throughout Monroe County have ceremonies planned all weekend long.