Veterans Day celebrations across LA County to honor service members
Veterans Day will be marked in various ways throughout Los Angeles County Monday with Pasadena using its celebration to pay tribute to a Marine Corps reserve battalion headquartered in the city.
The 2nd Battalion, 23d Marine Regiment has been deployed for a yearlong tour of duty. The 10:30 a.m. celebration will include a Yellow Ribbon Ceremony with music by the Pasadena Scottish Pipes and Drums.
The Condor Squadron will conduct an 11:11 a.m. flyover in restored North American Aviation AT-6/SNJ trainers originally flown during World War II.
Col. Juan M. Mora, chief of staff of the California National Guard's 40th Infantry Division, and James Zenner, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, are set to speak.
There will be booths from various military-related organizations and Pasadena Fire Department firefighters will serve free hot dogs.
The San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade will begin at 11:11 a.m. at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and San Fernando Mission Boulevard in Mission Hills, and proceed south on Laurel Canyon Boulevard for 1.1 miles to Ritchie Valens Park.
Former U.S. Army Spc. Edward Landin, who served from 1971-73, will be the grand marshal.
West Hollywood's Veterans Day ceremony will have a special focus on LGBTQ veterans. Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey Horvath will speak about the county's "unwavering commitment to our veteran community," her director of communications Constance Farrell told City News Service.
The 11 a.m. ceremony will be held at the Sal Guarriello Veterans Memorial at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Holloway Drive.
Veterans and active military members will receive free meals and ride tickets to Pacific Park at the Veterans Day ceremony on the Santa Monica Pier, which will include a military flyover with Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters and a demonstration by the United States Military Academy at West Point Drill Team.
"Thursday Night Football" pregame analyst Andrew Whitworth will be among the speakers and join fellow former NFL players Cade McNown and Donnie Edwards in leading a military convoy with Army vehicles from the California Army National Guard.
The ceremony will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Forest Lawn's 65th annual Veterans Day Celebration will begin at 11 a.m. at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills and include a flyover, patriotic music, an invocation and benediction, a color guard, a wreath laying and family friendly activities.
The Queen Mary in Long Beach will have an exclusive free celebration for veterans, active-duty military personnel and their families from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The celebration will include the opportunity to write letters to active- duty military personnel, arts and crafts making and veterans sharing inspiring stories.
Attendees can take free self-guided tours of the ship's exhibits.
Entertainment will include a tribute to The Andrews Sisters.
Also in Long Beach, a Veterans Day event will be held at the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include food, vendors, a car show and music.
Azusa, Alhambra, Baldwin Park, Carson, Cerritos, Monterey Park, Norwalk, Palmdale and Santa Clarita are among the other Los Angeles County cities also holding Veterans Day ceremonies.
The Rams' Salute to Service matchup against the Miami Dolphins at SoFi Stadium will include a pregame performance by the United States Military Academy at West Point Drill Team, quarterback Matthew Stafford and his wife Kelly hosting 20 Navy SEALs and their guests in the team's Row of Honor, a military enlistment ceremony and six military representatives, one from each branch, will be the honorary Rampede captain.
Fans 21 and over can create care packages for active military members from 3 p.m. until kickoff at the Lower American Airlines Plaza.
Veterans Day has its roots in a proclamation issued by President Woodrow Wilson in November 1919, a year after World War I ended, designating Nov. 11 as Armistice Day.
States soon started declaring Nov. 11 a legal holiday. Congress made it a federal holiday in 1938, dedicated to the cause of world peace.
In 1954, following World War II and the Korean War, Congress, at the urging of veterans service organizations, passed a law renaming Armistice Day Veterans Day. From 1971-77, Veterans Day was held in late October. A 1975 law returned it to Nov. 11, beginning in 1978.
In his Veterans Day proclamation, President Joe Biden declared, "Each one of our nation's veterans is a link in a chain of honor that stretches back to our founding days -- bound by a sacred oath to support and defend the United States of America.
"Throughout history, whenever and wherever the forces of darkness have sought to extinguish the flame of freedom, America's veterans have been fighting to keep it burning bright. I remember so clearly the pride the first lady and I felt in our son Beau during his service in Iraq. He -- like all our veterans from Belleau Wood, Baghdad, and Gettysburg to Guadalcanal, Korea, and Kandahar and beyond -- lived, served, and sacrificed by a creed of duty.
"We owe them a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay, not just for fighting for our democracy, but for giving back to our communities and inspiring the next generation to serve, even after they hang up their uniforms."