Belonging to a memorial Post, members of Post 8685 in Altoona, Pa., decided to honor its namesake, Bernard A. Good, in celebration of its 70th anniversary on Sept. 24.
Post Commander Michael Brandt, who served in Vietnam in 1969 with the 1st Bn., 5th Marines, said Good was killed in World War II during the Battle of the Bulge.
The event included speakers and a full-service ceremony, according to Ken Garman, a Post member who served with the Army for four years during the Vietnam era.
Garman said Good, who died Dec. 20, 1944, at 24 years old, lived “just six blocks away from where our Post was at.” The Post was chartered nearly two years later on Oct. 20, 1946.
Roughly 100 people attended the event, including relatives of Good.
“It was a very good ceremony,” Brandt said. “We had nice weather. We set a memorial cross. It’s an exact replica of the one in Luxembourg, that’s where he’s buried.”
Garman said Good’s nephew, who is a master sergeant with the Army Special Forces helped unveil the marker.
The significance of honoring Good, according to Brandt, is “the fact that he’s another fallen comrade.”
Photo courtesy of Timothy G. Teltow.
By Kari Williams, editorial associate, VFW magazine