Published June 03. 2026 12:57PM<\/p>\n
Since beginning in the 1800s, Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church congregants and Lehigh Valley supporters paused for the 137th year to remember those who served and died in defense of the United States of America.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s remembrance began noon May 25 when the stars and stripes were raised from half-staff to full-staff at the veterans memorial near the church\u2019s historic cemetery at 3441 Devonshire Road in Salisbury Township.<\/p>\n
Members of the church\u2019s honor guard and the Brandywine Colonials Fife and Drum Corps led a procession through the old and new portions of the cemetery as followers placed flowers at the graves of loved ones.<\/p>\n
A tolling of the church\u2019s bells memorialized church members who served in the country\u2019s armed forces and died in service to their country.<\/p>\n
Bethlehem soloist Evelyn Stewart sang \u201cThe Star Spangled Banner\u201d and \u201cThe Battle Hymn of the Republic,\u201d with participants joining in at the grove located near the church.<\/p>\n
Vietnam combat veteran Sgt. John Kukitz, of Allentown was the day\u2019s keynote speaker. He talked briefly of his experiences in Vietnam, but urged the audience to remember the importance of honoring service veterans during the country\u2019s 250th birthday observances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see Memorial Day, and July Fourth not as holidays, but as remembrance days, to honor those who stood up for the freedoms we enjoy during the semi-quincentennial of American Independence,\u201d Kukitz said.<\/p>\n
He called on all the day\u2019s participants to enjoy the powerful rights this country offers, by voting, by speaking up and by fighting for freedoms when called upon to do so, even when \u201cit\u2019s not easy to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The American flag at the Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church veteran\u2019s memorial is raised from half-staff to full staff at noon on Memorial Day to begin the church\u2019s 137th annual memorial program.<\/p>\n
Press Photo by Jim MarshMembers of the Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church honor guard and the Brandywine Colonials Fife and Drum Corps assemble as a prelude to the 137th annual memorial program May 25 at the church, 3441 Devonshire Road.<\/p>\n
Press PhotoS by Jim MarshRichard Shankweiler of Allentown, a member of \u201cTaps across America,\u201d plays taps as part of the 137th annual memorial program at Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church May 25.<\/p>\n
Thomas and Jill Linette of Allentown bring flowers to place at a loved one\u2019s grave during a cemetery procession at the Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church\u2019s 137th Memorial Day program.<\/p>\n
Bethlehem soloist Evelyn Stewart sings \u201cThe Star Spangled Banner\u201d to begin the remembrance portion of the 137th annual memorial program at Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church.<\/p>\n
Vietnam Combat Veteran Sergeant John Kukitz of Allentown speaks of the importance of always remembering the sacrifices of those who served in United States armed forces.<\/p>\n
Members of the Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church honor guard and the Brandywine Colonials Fire and Drum Corps play patriotic music and \u201cretire the colors\u201d to conclude the church\u2019s 137th Memorial Day program May 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published June 03. 2026 12:57PM Since beginning in the 1800s, Jerusalem Western Salisbury Church congregants and Lehigh Valley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-209737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}