Remembering Laguna’s war veterans

One of the saddest sounds anyone can ever hear is “Taps” played at the last rites for those who gave their lives in the military service of our country.

It is they who are most honored on Memorial Day, and Laguna paid its respects at the annual ceremonies held at Monument Point in Heisler Park, hosted by American Legion Post 222 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5858. But all the soldiers, sailors and pilots who serve their country ? some still in combat and some in veterans’ hospitals ? were not forgotten.

“We honor our dead, but we must cherish those who come back, some of them not the way they left,” said Councilwoman Toni Iseman, speaking on behalf of city officials. “I was recently at Long Beach Veterans Hospital. I saw World War II and Korean War vets, and I fast forwarded a few years from now [when Middle East vets will be in need of care], and I plead with elected officials to put money aside for them.”

Who better to hear Iseman’s plea than Rep. John Campbell, the keynote speaker at the ceremonies?

Campbell, who serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said it may be politicians who call for war, but it is the soldiers, sailors and pilots who answer the call.

“We are the lucky inheritors of all those who did their duty,” Campbell said

Hospitalized veterans are still doing duty by making the red paper poppies that remind us that the cost of war is counted in more than dollars.

“The poppy is the symbol of those who gave their lives for us, for our country, our freedom and our opportunities,” Campbell said.

Poppies were memorialized in Lt. Col John McCrae’s poem, “In Flanders Field.”

“As you arrived today, you were offered a program and a poppy. Please remember that all donations are used exclusively for the welfare of needy veterans and their families,” six-time auxiliary President Diane Connell said.

The poppy was officially adopted in 1921 as the memorial flower of the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary.

Flowers have always been a big part of Memorial Day ceremonies ? which began as Decoration Day, so-named for the bouquets laid on the graves of the Civil War dead.

Among the community groups that made floral presentations Monday: the Laguna Beach Firefighters Assn., represented by Scott Hammond and Capt. Steve Rening; and the Laguna Beach Police Employees Assn., represented by Motorcycle Officer David McGill. Sandi Werthe and Don Hurlbut made the presentation on behalf of Laguna’s American Legion Post. Ben Blount and Dorothy Toomey were the presenters for the VFW.

Other presenters: Penny Stastny, Ebell Club; Bob Mosier, Friends of the Laguna Beach Library; Ann Webster, Anita Mangels and John Hoover, Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters; Rose Hancock, Chamber of Commerce; Nina Rietsch, Patriots Day Parade; Bobbi Cox, Laguna Board of Realtors; Madeleine Visca, Garden Club; Bette Anderson, Village Laguna; Anne Wood, Woman’s Club; and Joy Dickerson, Beautification Council.

Presentations also were made by the Patience Wright Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Rotary International, St. Vincent De Paul, the Sawdust Festival, English Garden and the Laguna Beach Community Band.

The ceremony included the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Pendleton Firing Detail’s rifle salute and, of course, “Taps.”