Frankford War Memorial
What is Armistice Day? November 11 was originally designated as Armistice Day in memory of the armistice that ended the hostilities of World War I in 1918. They thought it would be the war to end all war but it turned out to be a prelude to Wold War 2. On November 11, 1922 Frankford dedicated its memorial to those who served in the Great War. That memorial stands up at Frankford Stadium at Large and Wakeling Streets. It is a fitting monument designed by renowned architect Paul Philippe Cret.
I became interested in the memorial last year on one of my trips around looking for pictures. So I began documenting it, taking pictures and doing some research with Debbie Klak at the Historical Society of Frankford. There are 8 bronze tablets listing all those who served and died. I started looking and I found my next door neighbor up there. He told me he had been in the war. It was nice to see him remembered that way, I know he would have been proud to point it out if he was here. Surely by now most of those who are listed have passed away.
There was one thing that I thought was needed and that was a list of the names of the men and women who are named on those bronze tablets, so we compiled the data and are making it public today. There are 2,381 names, among them 29 women. 28 fatalities are listed. There people all were from Frankford, Northwood, East Frankford, Frankford Valley etc. You can browse the pdf here. You may find someone you recognize.
In 1954, Armistice Day was renamed Veteran’s day in honor of all the veterans who have served in all the wars.
