Captain Leon Lock Veterans Memorial at Hampden Township Veterans Park

The Captain Leon Lock Veterans Memorial is located in the Hampden Township Veterans Park and was made to honor all veterans past, present, and future. The park is located at 4345 Marketplace Way, in Enola, Pennsylvania. If you're unfamiliar with the area...you'll find the park located behind the Giant grocery store. The memorial was presented by the Hampden Township Veterans Recognition Committee in November 2019.

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Veterans park and the memorial honors all six branches of the military: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines. It's FREE to visit and you'll park in the designated parking lot upon arrival. You'll want to dress appropriately for the season and wear comfortable walking shoes as you'll be doing a lot of walking on paved paths. Some of it will be uphill and downhill, but its an easy walk.

You'll enter the park through the entrance and follow the paved walking paths that are lined on both sides with the American Flag. As you walk along you'll come upon granite memorials that honor the different branches of the United States military and memorials that will give you information on the different wars & conflicts that have been fought.

There are a few benches along the way that you can sit down to relax and to take-in the beauty of your surroundings. The park is surrounded with mountains and during our late Fall visit we could see some of the fall foliage that remained...but you could definitely tell that winter was well on its way. One of our favorite sitting areas was located near a little stream and you could hear the water as you sat there to unwind. Nice!

As you walk along the marked path you'll come across the various memorials that mark the different conflicts and wars. The first one gives you information about The Revolutionary War which was fought 1775 through 1783. The graphics on these markers are incredible and you can get some really nice photographs along the way.

The next one that we came to was The War of 1812 which was from 1812 to 1815. This was a war that I had never heard of and then when I read the marker I understood why...it's considered to be the forgotten conflict. Wow...that's a shame since 27,000 people were killed during that conflict and that's just an estimate of the dead.

A few yards away was The Mexican-American War which was fought from 1846 through 1848. According the the limited information provided...there were 17, 435 killed...with total service members who fought 78,718. Again...another conflict that I am not familiar with.

My wife and I are very familiar with The Civil War and visit Gettysburg several times a year to continue to educate ourselves about it. The Civil War was from 1861 through 1865. This was one of the bloodiest wars with 780,213 casualties, died or wounded. This memorial has an image of President Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee.

The Spanish-American War of 1898 was one of those "short" conflicts that began on April 25th, 1898 when Congress declared war against Spain. The total casualties, killed, died, or wounded worldwide was 4,108. It features an image of President William McKinley and Colonel Theodore Roosevelt.

World War I featured U.S. involvement and began on April 1917 and lasted to November 11th, 1918.  According to the information the total casualties killed, died, or wounded in battle was 267,116. One thing that we really noticed was how far technology has advanced with the inventions of airplanes, tanks, more modern artillery, etc.

World War II featured U.S. involvement and began on December 8th, 1941 when Congress declared war against Japan and December 11th, 1941 when Congress declared war against Germany. Total casualties killed, died, or wounded in battle 1,076,245. I think for many people from my generation, this is one of the wars most familiar with us.

A few yards away was The Korean War memorial and it was fought from 1950 to 1953. The U.S. President at the time was Harry S. Truman who ordered troops to defend South Korea. Total casualties killed, died, or wounded in theatre 139,858.

The Vietnam War is one that took the lives of several family members on both sides of my family. It began on July 28th, 1965 when President Johnson ordered an increase of U.S. Forces in Vietnam and ended on January 27th, 1973 with a signing of a peace agreement with North Vietnam. Total casualties killed, died, or wounded in theatre 211,523.

Dessert Shield and Dessert Storm is one that I'm more familiar with thanks to my age. This one began on August 2nd, 1990 and ended on February 28th, 1991. You can really see how far our military technology has advanced from the Vietnam War to Desert Storm just by viewing the graphics on the memorial marker. Total casualties killed, died, or wounded in theatre 850.

Operation Iraqi Freedom began on March 19th, 2003 when President Bush announced U.S. and coalition forces began military action against Iraq and ended on August 31st, 2010. Total casualties killed, died, or wounded in theatre 31,957. This one reminds me a lot of the images we all used to see live on TV thanks to all of the journalists & reporters at the time.

Operation Enduring Freedom began on October 7th, 2001 when U.S. Troops were deployed to Afghanistan and ended on December 28th, 2014...although some troops are still stationed in Afghanistan today. Total casualties killed, died, or wounded in theatre 22,438.

After a 15-20 minute walk we finally arrived on the top of the hill to see all six branches of the military being honored. You'll see all of their flags, the United States flag, the MIA & POW flag, etc. It's a beautiful view on top and was well-worth the walk up there. The surrounding mountain ridge just adds to all of the beauty.

To the right you'll see a cleared area with a fire pit in the center of it. We weren't sure what it was until we walked over to it. This is the area where they host the United States flag burning with an official ceremony. There is a drop-off box down at the entrance to the park where you can drop off your American flags for the official ceremonies throughout the year. You can call the township for information about the program.

We took our leisurely time walking back down the paved path...often stopping to re-read some of the memorials and markers that we had read on the way up. If you're worried about it being a difficult walk, don't be. If you're handicap...I do think you'll need some assistance but for those with no disabilities, you can walk it just fine.

Veterans Park and Captain Leon Lock Veterans Memorial in Hampden Township is free to visit and open from dawn to dusk. Please help to keep the park looking beautiful by picking up trash that you find and if you're walking your dog...please properly dispose your pet's waste.