GILROY—Gilroy will join a grateful nation in mourning Monday, May 25 to honor and remember this city’s and country’s war dead with ceremonies that trace their origins to 1868 and U.S. Civil War.
Mayor Don Gage will read out the names of all Gilroyans who gave their lives in the nation’s conflicts as Gilroy’s American Legion Post #217 hosts its annual “Memorial Day of Remembrance Ceremony” beginning at 9 a.m. at St. Mary’s Cemetery on First Street.
Gage’s father was killed in World War II, nine days before his son’s birth.
The ceremony will begin with an invocation followed by the color guard, patriotic songs, the playing of bagpipes and the laying of wreaths on graves by the Women’s’ Auxiliary Post 6309 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The featured speaker will be Joe Kline of Gilroy, a renowned aviation artist and combat veteran of the Vietnam War where he served as a Huey helicopter crew chief and gunner.
Kline earlier this month was named Veteran of the Year by the American Legion Gilroy Post #217. He also is Grand Marshall of Monday’s Memorial Day Parade.
Following the cemetery gathering, the parade begins at 11 a.m. at the corner of 10th and Monterey streets and will march to Christmas Hill Park for a Family Fun Day and another remembrance ceremony.
Family fun will include music, food, jump houses and face painting, among other attractions and entertainment.
