KENT- Twenty-one years ago on the eve of Memorial Day, vandals desecrated the monuments at the Putnam Veterans Memorial Park in Kent.
Local veterans were so outraged that they repaired the damage in time for that day’s services and formed posses to guard the park against future attacks.
Karl Rohde, Director of the Putnam Veterans Services Agency, recalled “as a result of the desecration, Putnam’s Watch Fires were born and each Memorial Day weekend, groups of veterans stand by at the park from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and retire torn and tattered American flags.”
Volunteers are needed tonight and on Saturday and Sunday.
Rohde described this Memorial Day celebration as a “fitting tribute since 105 years ago on Memorial Day, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was dedicated.”
Rohde recalled in 1926 the “Tomb had to be guarded because it had been desecrated.”
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