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Episode 2622 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast features a story about how the great state of North Dakota is honoring the memory of its fallen veterans, specifically that of Navy sailor Patrick Glennon. The featured story appeared in the Minot Daily News and was titled: Community pays tribute to fallen sailor at bridge dedication. It was submitted by Jill Schramm, Associate Editor.
According to Schramm, Community members and the family of the late Navy sailor Patrick Glennon gathered on Saturday to honor his memory by dedicating a bridge near the Fessenden farm where he spent his youth.
During the ceremony, the Fessenden American Legion Post 33 presented the Colors. Kathy Muscha from the American Legion Auxiliary paid tribute by casting flowers into the river from the bridge in a traditional salute. Approximately 80 attendees released balloons into the sky, and afterward, they proceeded to have lunch at the First Lutheran Church. A procession of about a dozen motorcycles, in tribute to Glennon’s passion for Harley Davidsons, joined them.
This bridge dedication marked the first of three such events following a legislative action taken last spring by the North Dakota Legislature. House Bill 1352 designated three bridges in honor of veterans, with the N.D. Highway 30 bridge over the James River in Wells County being named the Petty Officer Third Class Patrick G. Glennon Vietnam Bridge.
Tragically, Glennon, along with 73 others, lost their lives when a portion of their ship sank in the South China Sea on June 3, 1969.
Glennon was born Aug. 22, 1945, in Philadelphia, moving to the Fessenden area as a youth with his brother and mother, who later remarried and had four additional children. Glennon entered the Navy in Fargo after graduating from Fessenden High School in May 1966.
Listen to episode 2622 and discover more about how the great state of North Dakota is honoring the memory of its fallen veterans, specifically that of Navy sailor Patrick Glennon.