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Azusa, Redondo Beach Veterans Day events receive VA recognition
San Gabriel Valley Nov 11, 2023
Azusa City Hall. | Photo courtesy of Los Angeles/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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By Steven Herbert
Veterans Day ceremonies in Azusa and Redondo Beach Saturday are among 66 nationwide selected by the Veterans Day National Committee as regional sites recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Redondo Beach’s Veterans Day Tribute will begin at 1 p.m. at the Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial in Veterans Park, adjacent to the Redondo Pier. The keynote speaker will be retired U.S. Air Force Col. Kenneth Hughey, who spent more than six years in a prisoner of war camp in North Vietnam.
A barbecue will follow the ceremony.
Azusa’s annual ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at the City Hall Courtyard.
Each approved regional site receives a supply of official Veterans Day posters, military ceremonial support from the Department of Defense and a certificate from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough for inclusion in the official program.
The San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade will begin at 11:11 a.m. at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and San Fernando Mission Boulevard in Mission Hills, and proceed south on Laurel Canyon for 1.1 miles to Ritchie Valens Park.
Sen. Caroline Menjivar, D-Panorama City, will be the grand marshal.
Menjivar served in the Marine Corps from 2009-16, enlisting when she was 20, shortly after receiving an associate’s degree in fire technology from Los Angeles Valley College. She had hoped to be a Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter, but a hiring freeze prompted by the recession delayed that plan.
“When I was in high school, I was part of the Police Academy Magnet where our main teacher was a Marine veteran,” Menjivar, a Reseda High School graduate, told City News Service in an email interview. “Each time we ran, we would run to a Marine Corps cadence. We would do mini-obstacle courses copied after the courses Marine recruits had to complete.
“He spoke about the camaraderie, the physicality needed to be a Marine, and the fact that they were known as the best. I wanted to be part of that, I wanted to be ready for the fire department when they started hiring again, and I loved being on teams, so I joined the Marine Corps.”
Menjivar was mainly stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego and served as a radio operator and platoon sergeant. She was briefly stationed at Camp Pendleton where she also worked as a military police officer.
Menjivar was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal and twice awarded the Marine Corps Reserve Medal.
What asked what she learned in the Corps, Menjivar responded, “It’s all relative! When I think about boot camp, when I think about all the things I did while in the Corps, nothing seems as hard as what I went through.
“Those 10-mile hikes, out in the field without showering, standing at attention under the sun, working out all the time, getting screamed out, sleepless nights, really early mornings, and ‘hurry up and wait,’ is the bar I compare everything to. I am very flexible, I can adjust on the spot, I can be in uncomfortable situations, I can work forever, I follow direction, I’m a team player and, overall, the leadership skills I’ve learned are invaluable.”
Menjivar called “wearing the uniform, especially the dress blues,” the highlight of her Marine Corps service.
“The camaraderie is what I miss the most, which is why I will light up each time I am around another Marine,” Menjivar said. “I loved being at the shooting range, shooting all types of weapons, throwing grenades, but my favorite was practicing with a an M249 light machine gun.
“It definitely didn’t hurt to be a sergeant in charge of about 50 Marines and leading their daily schedules, especially as a woman. It did feel badass.”
Menjivar said her service in the Marine Corps “made me the person I am today.”
“The Marine Corps saved my life,” she said. “I was dealing with familial issues, trying to find a place to land, to feel part of something bigger and Marine Corps did just that.
“It was the best decision I could have made. I got to work with all types of people from across the country and now have friends in every corner of the states. Marines, no matter if we’ve never met will always be there for each other, because we are `Semper Fidelis.”‘
Long Beach will hold a Veterans Day Celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Houghton Park. The free, family-friendly event will include a veterans resource fair with over 35 participating organizations, live musical entertainment, flyovers with historic aircrafts, a kids’ zone, food trucks and a beer garden.
U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. David G. Smith, a special assistant to the commanding general of the California State Guard, will be the keynote speaker for the Veterans Day ceremony at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, which begins at 11 a.m.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn is scheduled to speak at Norwalk’s Veterans Day ceremony at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall and Cerritos’ Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. at the Cerritos Civic Center.
“Speaking about the importance of ensuring the support of our service members does not end at the battlefield’s edge,” her communications director Liz Odendahl told City News Service, citing “the work that she is doing to bring unhoused veterans inside.”
Carson, Hawaiian Gardens, Lancaster, Malibu, Palmdale, Pasadena, San Dimas and Santa Clarita are among the other Los Angeles County cities also holding Veterans Day ceremonies.
Veterans Day has its roots in a proclamation issued by President Woodrow Wilson in November 1919, a year after World War I ended, designating Nov. 11 as Armistice Day.
States soon started declaring Nov. 11 a legal holiday. Congress made it a federal holiday in 1938, dedicated to the cause of world peace.
In 1954, following World War II and the Korean War, Congress, at the urging of veterans service organizations, passed a law renaming Armistice Day Veterans Day. From 1971-77, Veterans Day was held in late October. A 1975 law returned it to Nov. 11, beginning in 1978.
In his Veterans Day proclamation, President Joe Biden declared, “This Veterans Day, we honor the generations of women and men who have served and sacrificed — not for a person, a place, or a president — but for an idea unlike any other: the idea of the United States of America.
“For nearly 250 years, our veterans have defended the values that make us strong so that our nation could stand as a citadel of liberty, a beacon of freedom, and a wellspring of possibilities.
“Today, I am thinking of all our nation’s veterans, who put their lives on the line to protect our democracy, values, and freedom around the world.
“We honor our wounded warriors, so many of whom the first lady and I have met over the years, who are bound by a common sense of duty, courage, and optimism, and we remember those who are still missing in action or prisoners of war and renew my pledge to bring them home.”
