Memorial Day ceremonies scheduled for Merced County cities. Here are the details

Military men and women from every corner of Merced County over the years have made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation’s freedoms.

On Monday, veterans and families in Merced County communities large and small will honor fallen military heroes with Memorial Day ceremonies on Sunday and Monday.

“Out of all the three-day holidays that we use to celebrate our veterans and their service, I think this is one of the most important ones because we’re actually recognizing and remembering those who actually gave their lives in service,” said Kris Walton, commander of American Legion Manuel M. Lopes Post 240 in Gustine.

While in-person ceremonies were largely put on hold last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those events are back this year, as the number of local infections has declined dramatically.

“We’ll be honoring the fallen from all our combat campaigns throughout the years,” said Ed Benes, commander of the Merced American Legion Post 083.

The following is a list of what Merced County cities have planned for Memorial Day:

Merced

American Legion Post 083 will host a Memorial Day service 10 a.m. Monday at the Merced Cemetery District at 1300 B St in Merced.

In attendance, there will be an honor guard, singing from the Sweet Adelines, and an appearance from an American Gold-Star Mother.

There will be a salute from the honor guard, flag raising ceremony and a bugle player performing “Taps” for the fallen. Randy Lane will be the keynote speaker.

Also in Merced on Memorial Day, the Veterans of Color Committee of the NACCP Merced branch plans to place flags and ribbons on military graves at different cemeteries across the county.

They will also hold a virtual memorial service. People who would like to have a flag placed on their loved ones’ graves may enter their submission on the VOCC website.

Livingston

Livingston’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8327 and Auxiliary will host a ceremonial memorial service at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Livingston Memorial Park cornerstone, located on Main Street.

Hosts will lay buddy poppies on military graves to honor their service.

Los Banos

A Memorial Day ceremony is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Los Banos Cemetery at 16575 Center Ave.

The ceremony will begin with the Chaplain’s Prayer followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Alan Cotta, commander of American Legion Post 0166, said attendees can look forward to a short ceremony with an appearance made by Los Banos Mayor Tom Faria, Taps and a three-volley salute.

The Los Banos Elks Lodge group may also deliver Memorial Day speeches.

“We like to keep that tradition going so that our younger people understand the sacrifices that have been made for them to have the flag flying over their head and the freedoms they’ve got,” Cotta said.

Dos Palos

This year will mark Dos Palos’ 125th Annual Decoration Service. The event will take place at 11 a.m. Monday at the Dos Palos Cemetery District, 1800 Elgin Ave.

Dos Palos Mayor April Hogue will read the proclamation and sing the national anthem. Dos Palos American Legion Post 0086 will conduct a ceremony and there will be a moment of silence for military veterans who lost their lives in the last year.

Decoration Day was the original name for Memorial Day, according to the Veterans Affairs website. Dos Palos has decided to keep the original name as the initial intention was to honor the veterans by decorating their graves with flowers, which is something done each year.

“We wanted to make sure (the ceremony) continued,” said Darrell Fonseca, Dos Palos’ city manager. “Only other thing we do is we do a tribute each year to one of our veterans, whether it’s a deceased member or current living members and we will honor one of them.”

Gustine

Gustine will have its traditional Memorial Day parade, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday.

Mel Soares, in-coming commander for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7635, said the parade will start at Coast Hardware and proceed for four or five blocks down Main Street and end at Henry Miller Park.

At the end of the parade, there will be a procession at the veterans memorial across Henry Miller Park.

“(Members of the VFW and American Legion Manuel M. Lopea Post 240) probably say a prayer of Thanksgiving and saluting the flag, maybe offer a song, or whatever comes to mind when we reach the end of the parade,” Soares said.

Before the parade, VFW and American Legion Post 240 will prepare small wooden white crosses and small American flags. They will visit to Hills Ferry Cemetery, located at 1334 W Stuhr Rd, Newman, CA 95360, and place them on each military grave, plus gold stars on the graves of those who have lost children to military service.

Soares said Will Martin, a member of the VFW and a Vietnam veteran, is the “driving force” for the VFW and continues to inspire the veterans to honor those who have served.

“Memorial Day for us, kind of in a way, is an all-year event because we’re reminded almost on a weekly basis when a veteran passes and the family requests a military honor guard,” Soares said.

“It’s not like Armed Forces Day or Veterans Day where we celebrate the services that veterans gave, but we’re actually remembering those and showing our appreciation for those that have the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country,” said Kris Walton, commander of American Legion Post 240.

“I think it’s pretty important that we remember (that) it’s a good time to get together with family and have your barbecues and everything, but also teach people why we have Memorial Day,” Walton added.

This story was originally published May 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.