The Veterans Day parade begins every year at 10am from St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish, and typically includes an assemblage of former military members from every branch of service, and from wars dating back to WWII.
Led by Watsonville Police and members of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, the parade typically makes its way down Main Street to East Beach Street, and ends at the Veterans Memorial Building. Ongoing renovation work this year moved the ceremony to the nearby Henry J. Mello Center.
The work did not stop the food pantry and clothes giveaway at the veterans building at 215 E. Beach St., which takes place every Tuesday from 9am–noon.
That—coupled with services such as health care, housing assistance, disability compensation and counseling on every second Tuesday of the month—are meant for veterans who are struggling to make ends meet, said Roland “Doc” Garza, who helps run the pantry with his wife Violet.
Those services are a way to show appreciation for veterans in an area where they need extra help, Garza said.
“This area has been underserved,” he said
Loiusrae Guin, the Senior Vice Commander of the Aptos VFW Chapter 10110, said that the pantry serves as many as 70 veterans per week, a number that jumps to roughly 150 when their families are taken into account.
Vietnam veteran William Horne, 83, said Veterans Day is a validation of everything I’ve done.”
Horne served during the Vietnam War, working for a brigadier general in Army Intelligence.
“I learned a lot,” he said. “It made me who I am today.”
Keynote speaker Tom Graves, whose book “Twice Heroes” features the Japanese-American veterans who served in both WWII and the Korean War, said he wrote the book to “honor them, to learn their stories, and to share their stories with other people.”
“I think it’s important that we do that, appreciate our veterans and tell them we appreciate them while they’re still here, not after they’re gone,” he said.
That’s especially important, Graves said, as the number of WWII veterans dwindles every year and Vietnam veterans get older.
“Now is the time,” he said. “If you have questions for your dad, if you have questions for your grandfather, ask the questions, try to get the answers, because there will come a time when those answers will not be available, I’ve seen that time and again.”
