COMMITTED TO MEMORY SOUTHLAND HONORS ITS DEAD WITH FLAGS, FLOWERS AND TRIBUTES.Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer NEWHALL - It was thought of as a place where social ills didn't exist - young men and women fighting together regardless of race, sex, age or religious beliefs. They found it thousands of miles from their homeland in Vietnam combat while young Americans at home fought for their civil rights and against the very war that brought the soldiers together. In war, those barriers didn't exist. They couldn't. The soldiers were fighting for their country and their lives. ``It was special,'' Simba W. Roberts said of the time he spent as a 19-year-old fighting in the war. ``We slept together, we ate together and we died together.'' Roberts, an Army tanker commander and gunner, lost three close friends in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. As he drove to the Memorial Day celebration at Eternal Valley Memorial Park on Monday morning, their memory filled his heart, choking Choking Definition Choking is the inability to breathe because the trachea is blocked, constricted, or swollen shut. Description Choking is a medical emergency. When a person is choking, air cannot reach the lungs. his throat. ``It hit me,'' he said. ``Thank God for allowing me to be here. I was always one step next to someone being killed.'' Roberts was one of hundreds of people who turned out for the annual Memorial Day observance for the veterans who served, fought and died for freedom. As the American flag waved in the wind at half-staff, war veterans and their families gathered to listen to the Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, Concert Band play and Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon speak. Smaller flags were posted, armed forces were saluted and nine World War II condor condor, common name for certain American vultures, found in the high peaks of the Andes of South America and the Coast Range of S California. Condors are the largest of the living birds, nearly 50 in. squadrons flew overhead followed by a plane carrying a banner reading, ``All gave some - some gave all.'' ``I can't think of a finer tribute,'' said McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, referring to the banner. ``The feeling of patriotism Patriotism See also Chauvinism, Loyalty. America, Captain comic-strip character known as the “protector of the American way.” [Comics: Horn, 155–156] American elm traditional symbol of American patriotism. is emanating from you.'' Others gathered at Eternal Valley, not to honor the veterans of war but to remember and honor their loved ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers loved ones love npl . With the sun shining on their backs, Glenda Simmons and Jasmine jasmine (jăs`mĭn, jăz–) or jessamine (jĕs`əmĭn), any plant of the genus Jasminum of the family Oleaceae (olive family). Losh carefully placed the gladiolas around a gravestone, making sure the flowers had plenty of water. The mother and daughter from Fresno were visiting the grave of Simmons' mother for the first time since she died in 1997. Simmons said a visit to the site seemed appropriate on Memorial Day. ``It's a good day to think about the future, past and present,'' Simmons said. The tradition of placing flowers on gravestones that started in 1868 after the Civil War has lost some of it meaning, Roberts said. Many view Memorial Day as just a day off from work to drink beer at a neighborhood barbecue barbecue [West Indian or South American], in the United States, traditionally an open-air gathering, political or social, in which meats are roasted whole over a pit of embers and food and drink are liberally enjoyed. or to spend the day with family. But it's about remembering that Americans wouldn't have the freedom to do all those things if the soldiers didn't fight for it. ``We should celebrate this day because we fought for it,'' he said. ``I feel good right now. I feel honored.'' CAPTION(S): 7 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Bennie Lujan, a WWII WWII abbr. World War II WWII World War Two veteran from Pacoima, sits among the graves Monday at Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall. (2 -- color) A man reaches for a name he recognizes on a veterans memorial after services at Eternal Valley Memorial Park. (3 -- color) Yvonne Aragon of Van Nuys tends the grave of her grandfather, a World War II veteran, on Memorial Day in Newhall at Eternal Valley Memorial Park. The cemetery cemetery, name used by early Christians to designate a place for burying the dead. First applied in Christian burials in the Roman catacombs, the word cemetery came into general usage in the 15th cent. held a tribute to vets Monday. (4 -- color) John Morgan John Morgan is a common name, especially in Wales, UK. Well-known people with this name include: Per profession
(5 -- color) Stephen Colley, a Valencia High ROTC cadet, surveys veterans' graves. (6 -- color) Air Force Capt. Ed Colley salutes with veterans as colors are presented during Memorial Day services. (7 -- color) A flag marks a veteran's grave at Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News |
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