484-919-5063
GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM MONUMENT
DOYLESTOWN, PA
Several years ago the Doylestown Post #175 Veterans of Foreign Wars helped design, raise funds, manage and supervise the building of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Monument in Doylestown, PA. This monument is unique because it covers several elements of America's post-9/11 wars. Most importantly, this memorial honors the heroes of Bucks County who have died in the Global War on Terrorism since its start. Not only do we have a picture of each of these fallen, but also facts about their life. Secondly, we tell the story about the wars America has fought since 9/11. We do this by explaining how these wars differ from America's major conflicts in the past. This includes the major elements of these GWOT wars, new technology and differing personnel. We do this by having a picture and a brief description of each differing aspect of the wars. Finally, the monument includes a piece of runway from Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan - which is the main military base in that war-torn country.
HONOR THE FALLEN
A Picture of each Hero and Facts about their Life. We obtained the information for each of the fallen from their Gold Star families.
TELL THE STORY
Differing aspects of the Global War on Terrorism from prior American conflicts. A black and white picture printed on aluminum sheets with a description below each picture.
A PIECE OF HISTORY
This was a piece of the original runway at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan - which was donated to a member of our Doylestown VFW.
The original, single runway at Bagram, America's largest base in Afghanistan, was constructed by the Soviet Union and was very poorly built. US Air Force and Coalition engineers worked feverishly and daily early in the war to repair the decaying runway in the middle of combat flight operations. This runway section was one removed and replaced by USAF engineers and presented to the USAF commander on the last day of his long tour there (he donated it to this memorial).
BUILDING THIS MONUMENT
This Monument took over a year to design, raise the funds and build. The Doylestown VFW was the driving force in every aspect of this huge project. We raised over $150,000 in donations from the major businesses in Doylestown, as well as accruing thousands of individual contributions. Our post members obtained this enormous number of small donations by standing tirelessly at numerous festivals, shopping areas and malls until our fund goal was reached.