Skip to main content

Vallejo Times-Herald - Vallejo Salutes vets in emotional ceremony

November 12, 2014
News Articles

By Tony Burchyns

Under cloudy skies, Vallejo veterans and their families were honored Tuesday in an emotional ceremony behind City Hall.

The Veterans Day salute featured a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flyover, a song by high school students and speeches by various veteran and elected officials.

"As I look out, my heart is warmed with pride," Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis told the dozens of current and former service men and women and their supporters. "I think about the sacrifices that you made and that the military continues to make every day for us to continue to enjoy the freedoms and liberties that we take so freely for granted."

"Liberty has never been free," Davis added. "It never will be free. We have an obligation to recognize, honor and do whatever we can for those of you who have served and continue to serve this great nation."

Among those who spoke was Pearl Harbor survivor Richard "Johnny" Johnson, 91, of Walnut Creek.

"I think about the USS Arizona ... watching that thing be blown up," said Johnson, who served aboard the USS San Francisco. "I could have been assigned to the Arizona ... but I survived. That's they way it works, with some help from upstairs."

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Johnson said he was aboard his ship getting ready to go to the beach when he noticed planes flying overhead. He said he waved, not realizing they were the Japanese fleet.

"I turned around, and he'd just thrown a torpedo in the Arizona," he said. "The one behind him did another thing. I couldn't believe what I saw."

The ceremony kicked off with the presentation of colors by the Travis Air Force Base and California Maritime Academy color guards. American Canyon High School students Sarah Gapay and Hannah Jumamoy sang the national anthem and American Legion Post 603 Commander Paul del Rosario led the Pledge of Allegiance.

David Gonzalez, chairman of the Vallejo Business Alliance, sang an acapella version of "America the Beautiful."

The event concluded with the laying of a wreath at the war memorial in Marina Vista Memorial Park.

Mel Orpilla, district representative for U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, read a letter from the congressman stating, "Let's honor their sacrifice by praying for peace, for the day when war is not a reality, but a far distant memory."

Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, also called upon the nation to strengthen health care services for vets.

Solano County Supervisor Erin Hannigan recognized the area's strong military ties, from Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield to the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard. According to the city, Vallejo is home to some 10,000 vets.

"There are many veterans' families who live here in our community and we need to embrace them," Hannigan said. "Today's the day when we embrace you for your service and your sacrifice as family members."

At one point, Hannigan asked those in attendance to turn to a veteran next to them and thank them for their service.

Keynote speaker Buck Kamphausen, a former U.S. Marines reservist and prominent real estate investor and businessman throughout the county, also acknowledged the city's military past.

"Vallejo has such a great history in supplying the war effort, particularly in World War II," Kamphausen said. "It was a vital, vital situation for the Pacific War."

Also in Vallejo, nonprofit Mare Island Park Foundation honored vets in a separate ceremony at the historic Mare Island Naval Cemetery. That event included a wreath-laying at the USS Boston monument, honoring soldiers killed while loading ammunition at Mare Island in 1892.

Issues:Veterans