Margate Rededicates "Fallen Soldier" Memorial
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MARGATE (CBSMiami) - The newly installed "Fallen Soldier Memorial" was re-dedicated during a Memorial Day ceremony in Margate.
The memorial statue in Veterans Memorial Park, at Rock Island Road and NW 1st Street, was vandalized in April. Someone sliced off the top half of the three foot tall bronze scupture which was dedicated last Memorial Day. It was later recovered at a scrap yard - Sunrise Recycling in Ft. Lauderdale.
During the ceremony city officials donated the recovered, and repaired, statue to the American Legion, Post #157.
"It was very important to all the veterans and to the community. It represents all of our fallen heroes and soldiers and it does in some part symbolize our still active duty military, a rembrance of them as they far away from home," said American Legion Commander Jeff Colopy.
In addition to the re-dedication and donation of the statue, the Memorial Day ceremony included the Presentation of Colors and the National Anthem, a keynote address from Colonel William H.H. Millard of the United States Army, a rifle salute and Taps.
For some, the ceremony re-enforced the reason why we pause each year to remember those who gave their lives in service.
"It's actually kind of an honor to be with them. When I grow up I actually want to go into the military, so I think it's pretty cool," said Ryan Parker Louis, with Boy Scout Troop 836.
"What I think is that it brings back my generations of how I, how my family served in the war and it makes me think of may family," said fellow scout Matthew Panzzyszyn.
The Fallen Soldier Memorial, also known as the Battlefield Cross, is made up of the soldier's rifle with bayonet attached stuck into the ground with the boots of the fallen soldier next to it. Its purpose is to show honor and respect for the fallen soldiers at a battle site. This practice dates back to the Civil War as a means of identifying the bodies on the battleground before they were removed.
