Hundreds attend parade and festival to honor all branches of the
military
Gilroy – Standing below the three flags blowing in the slight afternoon breeze and admiring the new Christmas Hill Park monument honoring all branches of the military, Denise McElhiney explained why Memorial Day events are so essential.
“We can never forget the people that put their lives on the line (for America),” said the Morgan Hill resident. “National pride and patriotism is so important and we need to keep it alive.”
McElhiney’s support for our troops of the past, present and future, was shared by the hundreds of Californians who lined the streets of Gilroy for the Memorial Day parade and headed over to Christmas Hill Park for a flag dedication ceremony and festival.
The parade was filled with entertainment, from Lauri Gray’s School of Dance to the popular Dance Street Rockers (DSR) break dancing group to music from Gilroy High School’s Marching Band. The crowd cheered excitingly with each passing entry, but when the camouflage U.S. Army Humvee and war veterans strode by something else happened: most of the audience sitting in chairs on the GHS lawn or on the street curb stood.
The clapping and cheering grew louder and the mini American flags were shaken more aggressively. One little boy even shouted “Hi Army.”
“Freedom isn’t free,” announced Jeff Orth from the judge’s stage as the procession of military personnel passed through. “Thank God for the men and women around the world serving our country.”
Gregg Renn said he and his family look forward to the parade every year because, like the Garlic Festival, it’s another ingredient making up the small-town appeal of Gilroy. Renn said he also partakes in the holiday festivities to show his support for the military and try to understand what they went through since he never served.
“It’s nice to see the vets,” he said. “It’s definitely an honor to clap for them.”
After the parade a brand-new memorial dedicated to the military – displaying the U.S., California and black Prisoners of War flags – was dedicated at its site on the Ranch site at Christmas Hill Park. A granite rock in the middle will soon display a plaque with a military emblem.
Empty spaces on the monument will be filled with bricks engraved with the names of service men or women.
About 60 bricks have already been purchased but it will take about 120 bricks to fill all the open space. Bricks cost $200 each. Susan Hamiliton does her part for the troops by serving as area manager of Operation Interdependence, a group that helps assemble and deliver care packages to troops overseas.
During the afternoon festival she manned a booth letting the public know what her organization does and what they can do to help. Hamilton’s daughter’s husband is currently deployed in Kuwait. The festival also included live entertainment on the center stage, a rock-climbing wall, face-painting and various food and information booths.
The day’s festivities kicked off Monday morning when 77 names – all the Gilroyans who have died in battle since World War I – were read aloud at the St. Mary Cemetery. The most recent local to die in combat was Marine Lance Cpl. Jeramy Ailes. The 22-year-old’s death in November 2004 in Iraq was the first since the Vietnam War.
Originally called Decoration Day, since individuals decorated the graves of Civil War soldiers, Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May.
To purchase a brick, contact Wayne Cegelske at 842-4903 or send a check for $200 made out to Gilroy Veterans Flagpole Fund, along with the name or family name of honoree to P.O. Box 1588, Gilroy, Calif. 95021
