Young and old pay tribute to veterans
Napa Valley Register
Veterans from Napa's wars of yesteryear gathered at Veterans Memorial Park Wednesday morning to pay tribute to all who have served in uniform.
Speakers made the point that “freedom isn't free.” Since the nation's founding, it has required military sacrifice.
More than 150 people, some carrying small American flags, heard an hour of speeches, patriotic songs, military music, prayers and the somber playing of bagpipes.
Tom Sarciapone, chairman of the Napa Veterans Council, introduced graying men and women who had served in nearly all the wars of the 20th century.
Most conspicuously missing were the veterans of World War I. Once there were dozens in Napa County, but now there are none, Sarciapone said.
Honored for the first time was a ragtag group of long-gone military men: three companies of volunteer riflemen who forded the Napa River at what is now Veterans park on July 6, 1846. Having participated in the Bear Flag Revolt, they were bound for Monterey where they advanced the cause of California statehood.
John Holt, a retired Navy commander who volunteers for the Napa County Historical Society, read the inscription on a new plaque at the park that commemorates this distant moment in Napa history.
Brian Bottari, representing Rep. Mike Thompson, D- St. Helena, said 11,000 veterans live in Napa County. “We are the land of the free because we are the home of the brave,” he said, reading a letter from the congressman.
Napa Mayor Jill Techel urged the crowd to think about veterans the year-around, not just on Nov. 11.
If anyone got a parking ticket while attending the ceremony, Techel vowed to fix it. Of course, since the city's meter maids had the holiday off, there should be no tickets, she said.
The keynote speaker was Robert D. Wilson, a deputy state secretary of Veterans Affairs, who read a proclamation from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Napa County Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht, a former Napa city councilman, recounted the history of Veterans Memorial Park, saying it would still be called River Vista Park but for veterans who asked the City Council to designate a place of high visibility as a tribute.
The ceremony was held against a backdrop of American flags and the banners from the sponsoring veterans organizations. Two chairs, representing prisoners of war and those missing in action, were kept empty.
In the background, geese and seagulls sometimes swooped and squawked. As a Veterans Day courtesy, the pile drivers preparing the foundations of two new railroad bridges stayed silent for an hour.