City Hosts Memorial Day Celebration

San Clemente’s 2011 Memorial Day celebration took place in front of the Community Center, and began with the presenting of the colors by the South Coast Detachment of the American Revolution. 

Megan Theodorou then sang our national anthem followed by the invocation by Pastor Condo Eleisides of Talega Life Church.

Master of ceremonies, A.C. Ehlow then pointed out some local notables in the audience including City Council members Tim Brown and Jim Dahl, City Manager George Scarborough, chief of Police Services Paul D’Auria, and then introduced San Clemente Mayor Lori Donchak.

“Freedom is a value, it is a privilege, it also has a very human face; in fact as Memorial Day reminds us, it has a thousand upon thousands of faces from generations that go back more than two hundred years," she said. 

Donchak asked members of the crowd to tell a story to someone near to them about an individual war veteran they know and miss. Our younger generation, in particular, needs to hear these stories to know their place in this country and in the world, she said.

"A nation reveals itself not only by the men and women it produces but also by those it honors and those it remembers,” Donchak said, quoting President John F. Kennedy.

Next up to speak was keynote speaker Lt. William Burwell of the Coast Guard MH60 Pilot stationed at Coast Guard Sector San Diego adjacent to Lindberg Field.

He had the best line of the day: “Right when I got to the fence a Marine encountered me and told me to straighten my tie. It’s good to be surrounded again by Marines.”

Burwell spoke about his uncle John, who he never met, who was killed in action. He served in Vietnam in 1969.

He also talked about his friend Tom Clayborn, with whom he went to flight school and who perished in an accident off the San Clemente coast.

“My thoughts are definitely with him and his family today, and I am thankful for the sacrifices the Marines make as well as the other branches of the services of military,” Burwell said.

The enthusiastic crowd of nearly three hundred people also listened to patriotic songs sung by the San Onofre Elementary School students whose parents all serve in the military.

Guest speaker Col. John Carretti, U.S. Army (ret.) spoke next.

“Memorial Day is for those who have given their lives in the service of their nation," he said. "It is the remembering that brings honor to the sacrifice."

He spoke about unspoken faith in the face of challenge.

“Today before we head to the beach, the barbecue; we toast, we celebrate and we honor," Carretti said. "They stood the watch.  They held the line.  May it always be so…Semper Fidelis!”

Mayor Donchak returned to the podium to deliver two special certificates of recognition from the City of San Clemente to Dorothy Wyrick WAC, who joined on Sept 29, 1942 at the age of 27--now at 96, she is the oldest World War II WAC veteran  in California.

The second certificate went to Sgt. Dan Arkand, USMC, for the American Spartans.

In July 2010 active duty marines were motivated to help veterans, wounded comrades in combat.    

Next there was the presentation of the Floral Wreaths by the following organizations:

Mayor Lori Donchak for the City of San Clemente, VFW Post 7142, Orange County Sheriffs Dept, Military Order of Worlds Wars, Orange County Fire Authority, San Clemente Kiwanis Club, San Clemente Exchange Club, Daughters of the American Revolution, San Clemente Junior Women’s Club, San Clemente Historical Society, Rotary Club of San Clemente, San Clemente Sunrise Rotary Club, San Clemente Chamber of Commerce, San Clemente Downtown Business Association,  San Clemente Elks Club 2068,  USMC South Coast Detachment 022, Vietnam Veterans Legacy Vets Motorcycle Club, Chabad Jewish Center of San Clemente, American Legion post 423, San Clemente Garden Club, American Spartans,

Closing out the program, buglers Tim Mathiason and Chase Chandler played Taps. followed by Amazing Grace played by Bag Pipers, Tom Harris, Duncan Wilson, and Harold Ellis to add a fitting somber note to the ceremony.