ve terans day
DAILY REPUBLIC — Friday, November 13, 2020  B9
Historic Mare Island Cemetery rededicated Todd R. Hansen
thansen@dailyrepublic.net
MARE ISLAND — It is likely only the descendants, or truly dedicated historians, know the names Alexander Parker, James Cooney or William Halford. Yet, they are names worth remembering. Each is a Medal of Honor recipient, and each is buried at the historic Mare Island Naval Cemetery, which was rededicated Wednesday during a Veterans Day commemoration. The keynote speaker was Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis. She recalled how during her travels as ambassador to Hungry during the Obama administration how it struck her that all the military cemeteries at home and abroad are kept so pristine. That was not the case on Mare Island until the 2019 renovation. She also endorsed the efforts to have the Department of Veterans Affairs to take over ownership and maintenance of the cemetery, a campaign led by retired Army Col. Nestor Aliga of Vallejo. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-San Francisco, each has carried legislation in an effort to make that happen. Thompson represents the Vallejo area. The cemetery had become dilapidated over years of neglect, first by the Navy and later by Vallejo when it took over ownership in 1996 after the closure of the Mare Island Navy shipyard. Mayor Bob Sampayan recalled when the tides changed with a phone call from retired Navy Capt. Ralph Parrott in 2016. Parrott had visited the cemetery and was disgusted by its condition. “And for approximately 10 minutes, Capt. Parrott yelled at me about the condition of the cemetery, and what a disgrace it was and how we disgraced those buried there,�
Mare Island Historic Parks Foundation board members Bruce Christensen and Joyce Giles place a commemorative wreath on the USS Boston Memorial at the Mare Island Naval Cemetery during a rededication ceremony on Veterans Day, Wednesday. Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic photos
Veterans, current service members and families browse the Mare Island Naval Cemetery after a rededication ceremony on Veterans Day, Wednesday. Sampayan said. The mayor, who admitted only having visited the cemetery once prior to that call, began making his own calls. While it took a number of years, eventually the restoration of the cemetery became part of an Innovative Readiness Training Project approved Aug. 30, 2019, by the Department of Defense. The work began Sept. 7, 2019, by the 108th Engineering Company, Construction, of the U.S. Army Reserves, and was completed by the end of the year. The company was part of the rededication ceremony as well. For many years, it was Myrna Hayes, the volunteer manager of the Mare Island Shoreline Preserve, and her group of volunteers who tended to the cemetery the best they could. She and the group were not mentioned during the ceremony. Among those who walked into the revitalized cemetery were Ralph and Tina Halford, the grandchildren of William Halford. John Takeuchi, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, Larry Welch, a Navy veteran, Neil Wood, a retired Air Force flight engineer, and Bill Colom-
bano, a veteran whose branch of service was not available, also remember those Medal of Honor recipients. “There is a group of us who come up and pay homage to the Medal of Honor (recipients),� said Welch, who served on the USS Orleck, a destroyer and part of the group with the USS Maddox, another destroyer, that engaged North Vietnamese ships in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1964 and escalated America’s involvement in the war. The group, which has been coming to the cemetery on Veterans Day for five years or so, placed a penny on top of the refurbished and replaced tombstones – a tradition of respect – and left each a beer. The cemetery is the last resting place for 996 individuals, about 800 veterans and their family members, including the daughter of Francis Scott Key, Anna Key Arnold, and her husband, a War of 1812 veteran. The Mare Island cemetery is the oldest naval cemetery on the West Coast. The first burial was Feb. 12, 1856. Two years later it was designated as a naval and military cemetery. The last burial was in 1983. The cemetery was listed on the National Registry of
Scouts retire flags with honor at Veterans Day ceremony Susan Hiland
shiland@dailyrepublic.net
FAIRFIELD — The pandemic might have canceled many public events this year but the downtown advocates still wanted to do something Wednesday to honor veterans. “I was very emotional over today,� said Margaret Manzo, executive director of Fairfield Main Street Association. “Because Veterans Day is very important to me, it is an honor for me to do it.� So it was with a heavy heart that she and the city along with the Solano Public Health Department decided to cancel the Veterans Day parade this year because of Covid-19. “There just was no way to safely allow people to gather downtown and keep space between them,� Manzo said. Manzo had spoken in the course of a few weeks to James Jensen, the district commissioner for Chief Solano District Boy Scouts and scoutmaster – and a plan began to form of how she could do something for Veterans Day that was special and memorable. They got together and planned a flag retirement ceremony with Boy Scouts Troop 3317 taking the flags and disposing
Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic
Members of Suisun City Boy Scouts Troop 8317 salute a U.S. flag before it is ceremonially retired, Wednesday. The Fairfield Main Street Association and the Boy Scouts hosted a flag retirement ceremony in front of the Downtown Theatre on Veterans Day. of them properly with a fire ceremony. “I was really surprised how many people came out,� Manzo said during the event. “We had about 20 flags right off. I think a lot of people don’t know how to get rid of old flags. They know you just don’t toss them out.� The U.S. Flag Code, Title 4, Section 8k states, “The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem of display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.� Jensen brought his troop to the outside courtyard of the Downtown Theatre for the ceremony, which was attended
by members of the VFW along with the mayor. “We usually do this about two to three times a year at camp,� Jensen said. “But because of the way the year is going, that didn’t happen this year.� The Scouts this year received some synthetic flags that can’t be burned like the cotton flags. “I’m looking at finding a company that will properly dispose of the flags for us,� Jensen said. Manzo and Jensen each said they hope this will turn into an annual event. “I think we could be doing this one or two times a year,� Manzo said. “Once around the Fourth of the July and Veterans Day.�
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Historic Places in 1975. While the rededication of the cemetery was a central piece of the ceremony, the event was still, in its essence, a Veterans Day event and therefore a commemoration to all
the veterans of the U.S. armed forces. There are more than 34,000 veterans who live in Solano County, and close to 2 million in the state. From the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 – the armistice of World War I – to the holiday that became Armistice Day first as a presidential declaration
in 1926 and then officially an annual holiday set by Congress in 1938, to the rededication in 1954 as Veterans Day, the holiday has become a celebration of all those who have served in the armed forces. “It is a day all Americans stop and say ‘thank you, and bless you’ to all (veterans),� Kounalakis said.
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