Dark clouds mixed in with the early morning sunshine, then took over the skies as Escalon’s annual Veterans Day parade stepped off at 10:30 a.m., Monday, Nov. 11.
The full half hour parade made its way from Coley to First to Main and, as the last entries were rolling past the announcer’s stand, the raindrops started to fall.
Large drops pelted those leaving the parade and the steady rain continued as the crowed reassembled at the Escalon Community Center. There, a ceremony was due at the Memorial Wall but, in light of the inclement weather, all the action was moved to the Community Center itself, with many in the crowd packing in to the foyer and others finding shelter under the overhang.
Escalon American Legion Post Chaplain Casey Den Ouden served as emcee and thanked all those in attendance. The program featured an Armed Forces anthem medley by the Escalon High School and El Portal bands, accompanied by the Escalon High School choir. There was the unveiling of new bricks on a monument in front of the Memorial Wall, presentation of a Proclamation from the Board of Supervisors and an address by guest speaker, Pastor Arabella Whitlock of Manteca.
She is the lead chaplain of the Manteca Police Department, a teacher, and served nine years in the Army.
“I’m kind of excited for one reason only, not about the rain, but when Chaplain Casey called me, I remember thinking ‘I don’t know what to talk about, I don’t know what to say’; I served in peacetime and I always felt kind of bad about that,” Whitlock told the crowd. “I thought, oh my gosh, I’m going to have all these students near me and that got me excited because there’s something that I want to teach you.”
She went on to tell the students – and the rest of the attendees – about the history of Veterans Day; how it started as Armistice Day in 1919, a year after an armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918 to end World War I.
“In 1954 is when they changed the name to Veterans Day to honor all veterans,” Whitlock went on. “We were trained differently, we served in different military occupations; but regardless of the type of training, whether we were drafted or volunteered, served as enlisted or an officer, whether we were in peacetime or in conflict, there is one thing, there is one moment that every veteran had.”
That moment they share in common, Whitlock said, is when they raised their right hand and took their oath, choosing to serve and protect their country and the people in it.
“That oath was a solemn promise,” Whitlock said. “I encourage you today to follow the footsteps of these brave men and women we call veterans. The highest form of respect would be to live as they do … to make life better for someone else, to make taking care of each other a priority. I have no doubt, if we live like a vet, then our homes, our city, our country could truly be called the United States of America.”
With the placing of memorial wreaths and the playing of Taps by eighth grade El Portal student Peityn Sawyer, the crowd was then dismissed; many choosing to get tickets and stay to eat in at the Community Center, with the serving of the traditional barbecued chicken dinner after the ceremony.
