LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Memorial Day services are taking place across Southern California on Monday, with communities honoring fallen heroes who safe this nation.
In Canoga Park, a Memorial Day parade is underway after present process a 3 yr hiatus because of the pandemic. The parade, taking place Sherman Way, options tune, floats and a flyover.
Retired Col. Steve Hartman spoke to Eyewitness News about getting the parade again up and operating.
“It took an enormous amount of work to put it together,” mentioned Hartman. “From what you are seeing today, months and months of effort on the part of a committee. I’m actually on the committee.”
Hartman mentioned that individuals must take into accounts the fallen heroes who defended this nation on Memorial Day.
“Sometimes people get confused between Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Veterans Day is for those who served. Memorial Day is for those who have fallen in the line of duty serving this great nation. And we have to always remember the fallen, and that’s what Memorial Day is all about,” he mentioned.
And Hartman’s message to children is he desires them to take this vacation to be told what it approach to be an American.
“I want the kids to know what it means to be an American. I work in public education, and we need to understand what it means to be an American, ” mentioned Hartman. “That goes back to civics and to be what a U.S. citizen is. An American citizen has the rights and privileges that those that have fallen for us have sacrificed so we can enjoy those freedoms. And we need to pass that on to the next generation.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass additionally spoke on the Los Angeles National Cemetery, the place she identified fallen heroes there within the first public match for Memorial Day since 2019. All branches of the army, civil battle reenactors and tune from the three hundredth Army band.
The match took place at a brand new a part of the Los Angeles National Cemetery simply west of the 405.
One veteran who spoke to Eyewitness News mentioned that he commemorates Memorial Day to remind folks of ways fragile freedom is. He encourages everybody to be extra playful, experience lifestyles extra and do not take your self too severely.
An match in Long Beach Monday morning at Rosie the Riveter Park additionally took place, the place there’s an annual studying of the names on the Honoring Our Fallen Memorial Wall. Gold superstar households, active-duty army staff, first responders, and veterans learn the names of those that have fallen in struggle post-9/11.
And, in Mission Hills, Archbishop José Gómez will preside over a distinct out of doors mass on the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.