Colorado Remembers Her Fallen BY BISHOP JOSEPH COFFEY
WHILE BISHOP COFFEY LOOKS ON, ARCHBISHOP AQUILA BLESSES THE NEW GOLD STAR MEMORIAL AT THE COLORADO FREEDOM MEMORIAL IN AURORA, CO ON 18 SEPTEMBER 2021.
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eptember 18, 2021 was a gorgeous, sunny, blue sky day in Aurora, Colorado, near the city of Denver. Across the street from Buckley AFB, a base of the new U.S. Space Force Command, I was invited to participate with the Most Reverend Samuel Aquila, the Archbishop of Denver, in a blessing of a new monument at the Colorado Freedom Memorial, a magnificent glass wall reminiscent of the black granite Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. This memorial in Aurora holds more than 6,000 names of Coloradans who died in all of our Nation’s Wars. The event's Coordinator, Deacon Joe Donohoe, Director of the
Permanent Diaconate Office for the Archdiocese of Denver, invited me to be one of the speakers at the event. The president and founder of the memorial is Mr. Rick Crandall, a longtime radio host in the Denver area. He explained some of the history of the memorial. “Having traveled to the American Cemetery in Normandy, France, my wife Diana and I wanted to do something for all the Colorado service members who were laid to rest there.” In addition to those at Normandy, they were able to determine the number of those who had fallen since the Spanish American War, and this memorial is a tribute to them. continued on page 28 Christmas 2021
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