Veterans Day success

On Nov. 11, we conducted the 101st Veterans Day Ceremony at the Mare Island Naval Cemetery (MINC). We called the event, “Celebrating the Start of Transfer to Dept. of Veterans Affairs” because this oldest cemetery on the West Coast will hopefully become another VA national cemetery in 1-2 years. The Benicia Arsenal Post Cemetery quietly became one in September of 2020.

I sincerely thank everyone for your full and unwavering support. You have been the wind beneath our wings whenever we ran into obstacles – both imagined and real – while fighting for MINC in Congress. One of our speakers, Glenn R. Powers — Deputy Under Secretary for Field Programs and Cemetery Operations, National Cemetery Administration (NCA) — from Washington, D.C., stated, “I’m honored to be here with you today. It is an impressive event. It has been said that we die two deaths.

The first is our final breath and the second is when no one remembers that we existed. The NCA and the proud stewardship of this cemetery and the things that this community has done are all about making sure that the second death never occurs. It is truly an honor to be part of this effort. Thank you for honoring Veterans for what they have done and the sacrifices they have made.”

Other speakers were: Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell; Duane Sarmiento, Veterans of Foreign Wars National Junior Vice-Commander; Bob Sampayan, former mayor; Karnig Ohannessian, Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Navy (Environment); Shelley Berkley, Touro University Chief Executive Officer; and the keynote address was given by our own hero, U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, a Vietnam War Purple Heart Medal recipient.

Please read news articles by googling Mare+Island+Cemetery and you can view the latest video at www.youtube.com/channel/UC3GVapYb-jM1Jf8IvynKveQ Thanks again to everyone because “Dreams Come True When Teams Come Through!”

— Nestor Aliga/Vallejo