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SY Valley honors veterans

By Julian J. Ramos / Staff Writer / jramos@syvnews.com

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Veterans are recognized Wednesday as they stand during the Veterans Day ceremony in Solvang.//Ian Gonzaga/Staff

The Santa Ynez Valley saluted all veterans for their service Wednesday at the Solvang Veterans Memorial Building.

Organized and hosted by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7139, the annual Veterans Day program began outside with a raising of the U.S. and POW/MIA flags by members of the American Legion Post 160 color guard. Chris Bowman, director of the Santa Ynez Valley Chorale, played reveille and taps on the trumpet.

When the ceremony moved back inside, Boy Scouts from local troops and packs led a procession of flags of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines. Frank Dean, VFW Post 7139 service officer, had the honor of carrying in the POW/MIA flag as the packed crowd stood in unison to remember those who didn’t make it back home.

Rudolph Henderson, commander of program host VFW Post 7139, introduced the Rev. Jeffrey Bridgeman of Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church, who led the invocation and later the benediction.

Bridgeman, the son of a World War II veteran who fought at Iwo Jima and earned a Purple Heart medal, spoke of the service and sacrifice of America’s men and women in uniform and those who served their country in the packed auditorium who stood and saluted when the flag of their armed forces branch was presented.

“I look around today and we are in the hall of heroes,” Bridgeman said.

During his benediction, Bridgeman asked those in attendance to pray for the service men and women and their families at Fort Hood in Texas, site of the Nov. 5 shooting that claimed 13 lives. He read each of the victim’s names and their ages.

The theme of the ultimate sacrifice for their country resonated among throughout the ceremony, which included patriotic medleys from the Santa Ynez Valley Chorale.

Retired Marine Lt. Col. Chris Nielsen and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Alvin Salge both spoke of the loss of two Santa Ynez Valley Union High School graduates, who died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how the people of the Santa Ynez Valley rallied together to honor local heroes.

Marine Cpl. Aaron Allen, 24, of Buellton, a 2002 SYVUHS graduate, was killed Nov. 14, 2008 by a roadside explosive near Fallujah, Iraq.

Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Townsend, 30, of Solvang was found dead Jan. 16, 2008 at a U.S. military camp in Afghanistan, where he was serving. He was a 1997 SYVUHS graduate.

“Thank you for your outstanding support to our veterans,” Salge, VFW Post 7139 junior vice commander, said.

Guest speaker Lt. Col. John Taylor of Vandenberg Air Force Base touched on three themes in his address — hope, faith and sacrifice.

Speaking of sacrifice, Taylor, a 22-year veteran, quoted John 15:13, which says “No one shows greater love than when he lays down his life for his friends.”

World War II veteran Ed Jorgensen, former VFW Post 7139 commander, recounted the Battle of Guadalcanal and the decisive naval battle for the South Pacific in a stretch known as Iron Bottom Sound where numerous American and Japanese ships were sunk.

“From an old sailor, the men of Iron Bottom Sound sure are not forgotten,” he said to a standing ovation and cheers.

Howard Morseburg, a Merchant Marine in World War II, recalled a group of women known as WASPs — Women Airforce Service Pilots — who are rarely recognized for their contributions. WASPs delivered Air Force bombers and fighter planes from their factories to Europe, Morseburg said, and some of them were lost along the way.

“They are seldom mentioned,” he said.

In his closing remarks, Henderson thanked Buellton Albertsons Manager Ed Sage for donating the food and refreshments provided at the end of the ceremony and the volunteers who prepared the hot dogs.

November 16, 2009