Keeping the faith

Memorial Day ceremonies honor soldiers’ sacrifice

Maj. Drew Dela Cruz, a former El Dorado Hills resident, received the Distinguished Flying Cross late last year for his life-saving decisions during the Afghan evacuation.

Courtesy photo

John Poimiroo

Mountain Democrat correspondent

“If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow,” Canadian Army Col. John McCrae wrote from the perspective of a fallen World War I soldier in his poignant poem “In Flanders Fields.”

At 11 a.m. Monday, May 29, El Dorado County will keep faith with its fallen soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines when it gathers at the El Dorado County Veterans Monument, 300 Fair Lane in Placerville, to observe Memorial Day.

Ceremonies will include a fly-over and missing man formation by a squadron of World War II warbirds led by Cameron Park’s Chuck Wahl, n See ceremonies page A8

What’s open now on the forest?

Odin Rasco Staff writer n See Forest closures, page A5

Recreationists looking to experience the great outdoors in the Eldorado National Forest may find they will have to wait longer than normal to start their summer plans.

Crews have their work cut out for them this season as efforts to prepare campgrounds and other sites for opening face delays due to delayed access and extra prep work, according to a U.S. Forest Service news release. Traces of winter are sticking around the region longer than usual with the lingering snowpack at 300% of normal for mid-May.

In observance of Memorial Day the Mountain Democrat will not publish Monday, May 29.