Hundreds gather to remember and honor America’s fallen
Thousands of flags fluttered in a cooling breeze as elected officials, dignitaries, the West High School Viking Band and hundreds of spectators gathered to remember and honor more than 1 million Americans who have died in service to their country over the history of the United States.
Historic Union Cemetery held its annual Memorial Day ceremonies Monday at the shaded memorial park in east Bakersfield.
After a welcome by Union Cemetery Trustee Michael Bowers, an opening prayer offered by Pastor Josephate Jordan, and a presentation of the colors by Sons of the American Revolution, Efrain “Rocky” Garza sang a stirring rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Then the first speaker of the day, interim Kern County Veterans Service Officer Jose Lopez, a military veteran and Bakersfield native, began to talk about what Memorial Day means to him — and also what it doesn’t mean.
“A federal holiday, a vacation day, a free day, it is none of the above,” Lopez said.
Speaking in both English and Spanish, Lopez talked about the way most of his brothers and sisters in arms feel about Memorial Day.
“Veterans are a different breed,” he said, “and wear their hearts on their sleeves when it comes to honoring those who came before them.”
But even Lopez acknowledged that his thinking has deepened as he has matured.
“Time heals all wounds, they say. “Not for us veterans. Time catches up to us. It reminds us of what we have and how lucky we are to have it.
“And then it reminds us that someone before us sacrificed their life so that I can enjoy these truths,” he said. “That’s what today is. Let us memorialize those who are buried here and across this great country.”
As he signed off, Lopez spoke directly to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, those who came before him.
“Rest easy, brothers,” he said. “We’ll take it from here.”
Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh, who has
spoken at many Memorial Day events, talked to the audience about the high cost of freedom. She reminded those in attendance of U.S. Marine Pfc. Joseph Livermore, an East Bakersfield High School graduate who was killed in hand-to-hand combat on the heavily fortified, Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa.
Livermore was buried on that Pacific isle, and for more than seven decades, his remains were lost. Then 76 years after his life was cut short by an enemy bayonet, Livermore’s remains finally came home to Bakersfield in 2019.
“May we treasure that freedom the fallen have brought us,” Goh said. “And today, may we renew our commitment to remembering, with gratitude, the cost of freedom.”
Bakersfield Assemblyman Vince Fong spoke, as did Kern County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff Flores and Assemblywoman Dr. Jasmeet Bains, who praised veterans for their sacrifices, even as she criticized a system that too often leaves veterans without sufficient health care.
“Those that have fallen defending our freedoms are our truest heroes,” Bains told the crowd. “And they didn’t just deliver talking points about honor, duty and sacrifice. They delivered and showed us their commitment by their actions, a choice they made to defend their nation.”
Bains, a family doctor and the first Sikh woman of Indian origin to be elected to the California Assembly, said her religion and culture taught her to honor those who choose to serve, and especially those who willingly have placed themselves in peril to save and protect others.
“I have held the hands of our veterans as they struggled daily to make sense of the memories of war,” she said, “treating their PTSD, depression, anxiety and I’ve seen first-hand how our country has failed to choose to provide (for) those that have selflessly served to protect us.”
Asked afterward about the pointed criticism in her comments, Bains suggested she’s not worried about political consequences.
“I’m not a politician,” she said. “I’m a doctor.”