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People Pack Soldiers And Sailors Hall For Memorial Day

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- "Thank you for your service, sir.  We really appreciate it."

It's a refrain heard often at Soldiers and Sailors Hall on Memorial Day. The annual celebration is the first such event for Mary Minnock's little grandson, Leon Abram.

"My grandson's father served in Afghanistan," she said.  "And they named him after one of Jason's friends who passed away, a Bram Howard."

"This is a new exhibit we're calling 'Rally 'Round the Flag,'" said curator Mike Kraus, entering a small room encased with 14 flags. "It gives us a chance to show off some of the great flags we have in our collection. The oldest one is our Civil War flag, this is a brigade flag; it was used at Gettysburg and Spotsylvania. And you see the holes in it. Those aren't moth holes; those are bullet holes."

The Brass Roots on Pittsburgh Today Live:

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For kids, the annual event at Soldiers and Sailors is the ultimate picnic, as they bounce on inflatable trampolines and crawl through blow up tunnels.

While most Pittsburghers are thinking of the Stanley Cup, a big golf tournament happens to be coming to Oakmont next month.  And visitors in Oakland think it's "par for the course" to have their photo taken by the US Open trophy.

But veterans are the real stars here. World War II vet Robert Gale is modest about his generation's achievements.

"We were not part of the Greatest Generation. We were part of a 'challenged generation.' And if real trouble emerged today, plenty of men and women would become part of their own great generation."

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