City leaders and veterans and their family members and friends salute the flag Monday morning for a Memorial Day event near the Vallejo waterfront and City Hall. (Thomas Gase – Times-Herald)
On a three-day weekend chock-full of barbecues, concerts and auto races, Vallejo and state leaders reminded an audience of approximately 100 people Monday that the weekend was all about those who couldn’t enjoy those pleasantries.
“Today is about our young men and women who never came home,” Keynote Speaker and Commander of the American Legion Department of California, John H Aldridge said at Vallejo’s Waterfront Park Memorial Day event. “We must always remember them and may they all rest in peace.”
Memorial Day is different for many than Veterans Day, because the late-May holiday honors those who have lost their lives while serving their country, rather than those still serving.
Aldridge said that the fallen heroes were “brothers in arms, but also brothers bounded by sacrifice.”
The day traces its roots back to the tradition of Decoration Day in the 1860s when the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers were decorated with flowers. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the first large observance was held in 1868 at Arlington National Cemetery. Congress officially established Memorial Day on 1971.
“As we pay tribute to our fallen heroes, let us be reminded of their willingness to fight for freedom and the courage it took them to defend this courage,” Aldridge said. “They came from all walks of life but they shared several fundamental qualities. They possessed courage, pride, determination, selflessness, dedication, duty and integrity. All qualities needed to serve a cause larger than one’s self.
Statements were also read on behalf of U.S. Rep. John Garamendi and a proclamation made by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and read by Tom Bartee. There was a USAF flyover by the 47th Fighter Squadron, 924th Fighter Group and 944th Fighter Wing. The USCG Flyover was by Air Station San Francisco.
Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell took time in his speech to thank everyone for coming but also pointing out one particular name on the plaque behind him — Marcus A. Engesser.
First reported by the Daily Republic, the remains of Engesser were recently discovered and he is only just being brought back to Vallejo more than 80 years after his death thanks to an identification by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Engesser served in Company L of the 31st Infantry Regiment during World War II and was captured following the American surrender of the Bataan Peninsula in April 1942,. Engesser was later forced on the Bataan death march. He died of malaria in September 1942.
“After so many years he’s able to come home,” McConnell said. “His brother’s name is on the wall as well and as Vallejoans we want to acknowledge their contributions and express our admiration to his family.”
Also on hand at the City Hall/waterfront ceremony was Korean War veteran James Precour, a longtime Vallejo native. What was his main goal to those who had fallen in battle?
“Give honor to them,” 93-year-old Precour said, a single tear falling down his right eye behind his glasses. “I went out and raised a family and had five children and had grandchildren and great grandchildren. So today we think of people who never had that chance. It’s an honor to be here. I’ve been coming here every year.”
McConnell, a veteran himself, said the day is often difficult for him.
“It’s a day of mixed feelings where we have bittersweet memories of our comrades who fell and their circumstances come back to us in flashbacks,” McConnell said. “But behind us we know there is a home that makes all of this meaningful so all those that come here today I want to thank you for making the effort.”
