Looking Back on Independence Day
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On July 4, 1847, the Mormon Battalion (a regular military unit with the U.S. Army) raised the first American flag at Fort Moore near the present-day site of downtown Los Angeles. This was after the volunteer unit completed the longest infantry march in history (2,000 miles) from the Midwest to California.
On July 4, 1987--140 years later--members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) held a large memorial service at the Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial. Although the Southern California Mormon Choir was to perform, we were not able to secure a regular military band. As a member of the team that searched for a military band, I (along with other Mormons) wish to thank the local Salvation Army for providing a Korean band and doing this as an unselfish and public-spirited offer.
KENNETH LLOYD LARSON
Los Angeles
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