Washington Chapel Service Marks Veterans’ Day
VALLEY FORGE PA – A special service remembrance ceremony for the fallen World War I heroes laid to rest in the chapel churchyard of Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Historical Park will be conducted on Veterans’ Day (Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021) at 11 a.m. on the chapel grounds in the park on Route 23.
The event is free to attend and open to the public.
During the service, a 2-minute call to silence and prayer will be held as attendees honor Armistice Day, when the war’s guns were silenced in 1918 and which led to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in the following year. The chapel’s carillon will toll its bourdon bell twice during this time as a symbol of solemn gratitude and tribute.
Following the service, a processional will move to the chapel’s iconic statue, “Sacrifice and Devotion.” It is dedicated to the mothers of America, and became a pilgrimage site for wives, mothers and sweethearts of World War I soldiers. The procession will then advance to the churchyard to honor three veterans buried there.
Interred at the churchyard are:
- Army Brig. Gen. James C. Rosborough, who also commanded artillery battalions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, as the commander of the 197th Field Artillery;
- Corporal Herbert Warriner of the 109th Infantry, who died of wounds after sustained fighting with his regiment, as well as the 315th and 109th Infantries, Company K; and
- Dimitri Fedotoff White (1889-1950) a combat veteran of World War I, who was an Imperial Russian Navy officer from Saint Petersburg.
Photo provided by Washington Memorial Chapel
