St. Dominic Parish last week hosted a series of Veterans Day events, beginning with a morning Mass.
The Mass was celebrated by the Revs. John Hutter, parochial administrator at St. Dominic, and James Dalton, a former principal at North Catholic and Father Judge.
After Mass, a bagpiper led parishioners, students and others down Frankford Avenue for brief ceremonies at the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association Hometown Heroes banners honoring the 257 North Catholic Fallen Falcons and the 27 Father Judge graduates killed in the Vietnam War. A Philadelphia Police Honor Guard performed a nine-gun salute followed by Taps. Air Force veteran Larry Berran read the names of the 27.
“God bless them all,” Berran said.
Next, North Catholic graduates gathered in St. Dominic Cemetery to read the names of the 257 graduates killed in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan/Iraq, from 1941 to 2011. Eleven North Catholic graduates killed in war are buried at St. Dominic. Seven died in World War II, and four in Vietnam.
The day concluded at Marian Hall with a question-and-answer session between students and veterans, followed by lunch. Students presented their guests with colored “Thank you veterans” pages. Veterans brought props such as uniforms, medals, citations, pictures, a boot, a helmet, dog tags and a missal prayer book.
Navy veteran Tom Morgan presented Hutter with a Prisoner of War banner.
Bill Kenny, of the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association, told the crowd that the group’s Hometown Heroes program has placed 46 banners along Frankford Avenue and Torresdale Avenue. Stan Cywinski, a Navy veteran and UHCA president, took part in the day’s events.
Jim Cirillo, a 1964 North Catholic graduate, U.S. Army veteran and longtime St. Dominic parishioner, organized the day’s events. This is the 100th anniversary of North Catholic and the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales ministry in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. North Catholic closed in 2010. ••
