Honoring those who served

WATSONVILLE—As the steeple bells of St. Patrick's Cathedral struck 10 Monday morning, a group of former military members began a march from the church's parking lot to the Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building, a tradition that heralds in the annual Veteran's Day ceremony.

Dozens of people lined the streets to pay their respect to the two-dozen marchers, waving miniature U.S. flags and applauding as they passed.

"These people have sacrificed," said Watsonville realtor Rene Mello. "If not their lives, then their time. They sacrificed time away from their families, and it was never a question for them. They didn't know if they were coming home."

Mary Lou Samms-Wiley, who was standing nearby, agreed.

"I'm here to honor the vets, and all they've done to keep us safe from all the crazies in the world," she said. "There is so much evil in the world, and they do their best to save us from it."

Speaking onstage during the ceremony in front of about 200 people, Congressman Jimmy Panetta called the U.S. a "nation of risk takers."

"In order for our democracy to succeed, we can't be silent, we can't just sit back," he said. "It's not handed to us, nor is it handed to future generations."

Keynote speaker John Gallagher, himself a veteran who now serves as a Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge, called for increased support services for veterans.

Gallagher spoke of increasing suicide rates among veterans, with 45,000 in the last 5 years.

"No veteran should feel that they are alone, and no veteran should be alone," he said.

"We need to be there for them," he said. "No veteran should die alone, and if no veterans die alone, there will be no more veteran suicides."

John Cline, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq, said he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who fought in the Vietnam War.

"I had to do something to give back to the country that has given me so much," he said. "I am here today to honor my brothers and sisters who did the same."