U.S. service members honored during Memorial Day ceremony in Los Banos

Members of the United States armed forces who have made the ultimate sacrifice were honored Monday during a Memorial Day ceremony at the Los Banos Cemetery.

The ceremony was hosted by VFW Post 2487 and American Legion Post 166 at the cemetery located on Center Avenue. The ceremony included an address by Los Banos Mayor Tom Faria, as well as addresses by American Legion Auxiliary Unit 166 Madam President Barbara Cardenas and Merced County District 5 Supervisor Scott Silveira.

The event also featured a 21-gun salute by VFW Post 2487 Honor Guard members.

“Basically don’t want the people to forget what these individuals have sacrificed their lives for,” said Jim Valentine, U.S. Navy veteran and quartermaster of VFW Post 2487 in Los Banos.

Valentine, a Vietnam War veteran, said he was one of the veterans who was sarcastically honored by the country and was spit on when returning home from overseas. Valentine said he lost four classmates during the Vietnam War and his uncle was killed in Germany during World War II.

“We need to basically never forget,” Valentine said. “Hopefully by doing this we’ll get more and more people showing up, but I fear to an extent the general public already forgot what these people sacrificed.”

In an effort to remind the public of what service members sacrificed, the VFW and American Legions display American flags throughout town eight times a year as well as doing military funeral honors at the Los Banos Cemetery and the San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, according to Valentine.

“We do a lot of programs through the schools and so forth , just trying to pass on the importance of the service that was given,” Valentine said.

This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 3:07 PM.