Listen to the Interview
WILLOW GROVE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A unique monument that now sits above Willow Grove’s Veterans Memorial Park started as a dream over a decade ago.
Vietnam Vet Ralph Sorti says, 14 years ago, he envisioned a monument for the park.
“I did not in my wildest dreams imagine that it would have evolved so much into what we have today,” he said.
Atop a 15-foot steel pole, sits a Huey helicopter, with the words, US Armed Forces on the side. Sorti says there’s a reason they chose a helicopter.
“Whether you were in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or Coast Guard, every branch of service has a helicopter,” he explained.
It took 8-years to secure the body of the helicopter, and another two years to get the parts to rehab it; Sorti says he never thought of giving up.
“When I was in the military, I was a United States Navy Seabee and our motto was, “Can do” and I never forgot that motto,” he said.
Sorti says he hopes when people see the helicopter, they remember…
“That there are men and women that gave of themselves, so we could enjoy the freedoms that we have today,” he added.