Riverside National Cemetery hosts Memorial observance Published June 4, 2010 By Megan Just 452 AMW/PA MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. -- On a holiday morning one might expect to be void of traffic, vehicles were at a standstill as far as the eye could see in both directions on Interstate-215's Van Buren exit. The reason? Area residents were flocking to Riverside National Cemetery's Memorial Day ceremony to remember and pay tribute to the military members through history who died in their service to America. The ceremony was a joint production between all branches of service, cemetery staff, retired service members and local community members and organizations. Cemetery guests listened to patriotic music from the 1st Marine Division Band at Camp Pendleton as they gathered under the trellises at the lakeside Veterans Memorial Amphitheater. After delaying the start of the ceremony as a courtesy to the hundreds of vehicles still arriving at the cemetery, Maj. Don Traud, 452nd Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs Officer and master of ceremonies, welcomed guests to the 31st annual observance of Memorial Day at the Riverside National Cemetery. A California National Guard team presented the colors, along with Archie Atchieson, a former prisoner of war, who posted the POW/MIA flag. 452nd Air Mobility Wing Chaplain Aaron Klaves gave the invocation and Riverside National Cemetery director, Gill Gallo, welcomed the guests to the cemetery. "Today, as we celebrate Memorial Day here at Riverside National Cemetery, let this be our way of saying we won't forget our veterans. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever," said Gallo. For the second year, the Riverside National Cemetery hosted The Roll Call Project, where volunteers read aloud the names of the veterans interred in the cemetery over the past year. The volunteers began reading the 6,000 names the day before Memorial Day and Gallo invited one of the volunteers, 9-year-old Matteson Williams, to read the final 10 names there at the ceremony. Honored guest, Rep. Ken Calvert, California 44th Congressional District, spoke about America's devotion to freedom, democracy and the pursuit of happiness and the price at which that devotion comes. "As we stand here today, looking across the graves that mark our honored dead and read the news from the Middle East, the cost becomes real. We mourn the many men and women who have been killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. They join the sacred brotherhood that stretches across time and land. From our revolution to the civil war to the world wars, Korea, Vietnam, the first Gulf War and other conflicts. They fall in battle, but stand tall and proud in our memory and in our hearts. They are our heroes," Congressman Calvert said. "We acknowledge that the death of the Solider, Sailor, Airman, Coast Guardsman or Marine does not exist in a vacuum. It is a wound that will never heal in the hearts of all those who loved them. We honor them as individuals," he continued. "They are people who cannot be replaced, but are people whose memories live on whenever their story is told." Members of the Cross Word Choir, the church that has made the former March Air Force Base chapel on Riverside Drive their home, sang "America the Beautiful." A C-17 Globemaster III from the 729th Airlift Squadron flew overhead during the song. The flyover was the sixth of seven flyovers the crew executed across Southern California for communities' Memorial Day observances. The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Steve Muro, the Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Riverside National Cemetery is the fastest growing of the 131 national cemeteries the department oversees, said Muro, who twice during his national cemetery career has worked at Riverside. "We inherited this country from previous generations. Previous generations of veterans who went off to war and left their families and then came back...school teachers, priests, doctors, lawyers, grounds keepers, mechanics; when they were called to duty, they went. And today, we don't have the draft calling them to duty. We have the citizen soldiers volunteering to go to duty to defend this country. And why do they do that? Because they know we are borrowing this country from future generations and we must defend it for the future generations," Muro said. Muro asked Gold Star husbands, wives and parents in the audience to stand and the crowd recognized their sacrifice and the sacrifice of their loved one with a round of applause. "It's a shame that we have to build [national] cemeteries, but we have to build them because we know people are going to step up to the bat when others play games like they did on 9/11," Muro said. He concluded his speech by saying, "A nation that honors their veterans will last forever." A representative from each branch of service read their service's creed and the Marine Corps band played each service's hymn. Representing the Air Force was Staff Sgt. Aja Smith from the 50th Aerial Port Squadron, reading the Airman's Creed. Col. Karl McGregor, 452nd Air Mobility Wing commander, was the military speaker for the event. He opened by sharing memories of his father, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, who lost three aircraft on three tours but managed to survive. He recalls his father's Memorial Day ritual of leaving the house and not returning until after dark, saying he was spending the day with his fallen comrades. "He buried some close friends," Colonel McGregor said. Colonel McGregor also spoke of his days as a C-5 Galaxy squadron scheduler when one of the C-5s crashed into the ground in Germany during Operation DESERT SHIELD. "I lost twelve folks I worked very closely with, including my desk mate. Those are the memories Memorial Day brings forth. Yes, it's a national holiday, but today will not be the only day I remember those folks. I see their faces. I see their families. And I carry that with me. For me, Memorial Day is about carrying the memories forward and not forgetting," he said. Enoch "Mac" McClain spoke of his experiences as an 18-year-old Marine Corps rifleman, watching each day as another of his platoon members died. He gave a special welcome home message to Vietnam veterans, many of whom were greeted with hostility when they returned from the war. McClain encouraged the members of the audience to personally welcome home Vietnam veterans, too. After the Blue Eagles Total Force Honor Guard fired a rifle salute, members of the Marine Corps band played taps and California National Guardsmen presented a flag to Mr. Muro. Congressman Calvert and Steve Muro placed a wreath of remembrance in front of the podium to honor those veterans interred at Riverside National Cemetery. The ceremony ended with the retirement of the colors and a finale performance of "Amazing Grace" by bagpiper Gunnery Sgt. Joel Daniel, the Marine Corps band, and the Cross Word Church Choir. As the visitors' vehicles began the long procession out of the cemetery, Navy Sea Cadet Point Divide Division commander, Lt. Cmdr. Tom Blackshear and 38 of his sea cadets had one more ceremony to conduct. The sea cadets, who had also helped with the main ceremony by directing traffic, handing out programs and assisting elderly guests, conducted "Day is Done" honors for 100 indigent veterans. The simple ceremony recognized those veterans who were interred in the cemetery in the past five months but didn't have any friends or family members to attend. The cadets honored them by placing a flag and a bouquet of flowers on their graves. "This is possibly the only time these veterans will be visited at the national cemetery," Commander Blackshear said.