Anne Danahy
Centre Daily Times
The annual state National Guard memorial service at the Pennsylvania Military Museum this Sunday will honor the 28th Infantry Division and include a speech from a onetime member.
Gov. Tom Corbett, who served in the division from 1971 to 1984, will talk at the event along with Maj. Gen. Randall Marchi, commander of the 28th Infantry Division.
The ceremony will include the dedication of a memorial monument to the 83 troops who were killed as part of the division’s 2nd Infantry Brigade in Iraq in 2005 and 2006.
Museum educator Joe Horvath said the governor is always invited to the annual ceremony, which has a long history.
“The governor is the commander in chief of the national guard,” Horvath said. “It seems right and appropriate for him to be here for one of the biggest events they have to honor the fallen.”
The dedication of the first true monuments in the shrine complex took place in September 1924, Horvath said.
He said the very first monument was dedicated to the Boal Troop in 1991.
“It sits to this day near the entrance to the Boal Mansion because that was also the entrance to the cavalry training grounds,” Horvath said.
The 28th Division, founded in 1879, is the oldest division in the U.S. armed forces.
Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/05/16/3198139/gov-corbett-will-speak-at-national.html