LAKEPORT – Community members paused to honor veterans past and present at a standing-room-only service in Lakeport on Wednesday.
The Veterans Day service, hosted by the county's Veteran Services Office, took place at the Little Theater on the Lake County Fairgrounds.
Close to 200 people packed the building and spilled out its doors, with Frank Parker of the United Veterans Council noting it was the largest crowd he had seen at the ceremony.
World War II-era veterans, including local Pearl Harbor survivors, to Korean War veterans, Vietnam veterans, those who had served in the gulf and those still assigned to duty in Iraq and Afghanistan – including Private Ricky Abraham, welcomed home this past weekend for a brief visit – were on hand, receiving handcrafted thank you cards from local children who participate in 4-H.
During the ceremony two local veterans received some special and well-deserved attention – Rich Feiro of the United Veterans Council's Military Funeral Honors Team received the “Veteran of the Year Award” and Dean Gotham, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951, was named “Friend of the Veteran” for his work to bring the “Moving Wall” Vietnam memorial monument to Lake County in June.
County Veteran Services Officer Jim Brown hosted the event, and offered thanks to many veterans groups and groups that support them – such as Operation Tango Mike, which sends dozens of care packages overseas each month – for the work they do.
Brown reviewed a list of accomplishments on behalf of veterans over the past year.
They included Highway 53 – between Highways 29 and 20 – being designated a Veterans Memorial Highway, an effort undertaken by the Clearlake Rotary Club.
The Board of Supervisors earlier this year also approved taking a neglected piece of county-owned land near Clearlake and turning it into a memorial park for Lance Corporal Ivan Wilson, Brown said. Wilson died in Afghanistan in July of 2008, as Lake County News has reported.
Brown said the park is an appropriate recognition for someone who paid the ultimate price for his country.
He offered thanks to those who toiled to bring the Moving Wall to Lake County this past summer. “It will be long remembered and appreciated by many.”
Brown also thanked the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team for its efforts.
Despite the fact that he's been battling the Department of Veterans Affairs for years, Brown thanked the agency, which currently is working on site selection for a new VA clinic in the south county.
“We're very close,” said Brown, who is optimistic the clinic will be open next year.
The keynote speaker, District 1 Supervisor Jim Comstock, is a Vietnam veteran who recounted the history of Veterans Day, which began as Armistice Day – to mark the end of World War I – before eventually being renamed to honor veterans of all wars.
Comstock, who served in the Navy and spent time flying over Vietnam, pointed out Lake County's large veterans population – more than 8,000 out of 65,000 people, which means more than 10 percent of local residents are veterans, he said.
He recalled how, as a young man, he was in college with an upcoming final exam on the same day as he was required to report to the Bay Area for his military physical and evaluation. When Comstock went to talk to his professor – who would pass him anyway – the professor noted, “Son, where you're going, you don't need this class.”
Comstock said he was proud of his service in Vietnam. “We are the land of the free because of the brave, and you are the brave,” he said, speaking to the veterans in the audience.
As Brown prepared to announce the 2009 Friend of the Veteran Award winner, he recounted the past winners of the award: 2000, Charles Stephanski, who transported prescriptions to veterans for free through his courier service; 2001, the van drivers who take local veterans to VA clinic appointments out of the area; 2002, Vernon Clegg, who helped keep the Avenue of Flags alive; 2003, Rich Feiro, firing party commander for the Military Funeral Honors Team; 2004, Dr. Kevin Mack, who has offered mental health services to local veterans over the last 10 years; 2005, the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team; 2006, Pearl Harbor survivor and D-Day veteran Jim Harris, who Brown recalled told him what he needed to do to help veterans in the county not long after Brown was hired at the veteran services officer; 2007, Ginny Craven, founder of Operation Tango Mike; 2008, Congressman Mike Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, and his local representative Brad Onorato, both of whom were credited for their work on behalf of local veterans.
Gotham, the 2009 winner, was chosen for bringing the Moving Wall to Lake County, Brown said.
The prime mover behind the effort, Gotham worked hard – and pushed hard – to get the big task accomplished. “You might even say he pissed a lot of people off,” Brown added.
But the result, Brown said, was great.
Comstock, who helped Brown present the award to Gotham, read the plaque, which noted Gotham's effort to improve veterans' lives.
Gotham thanked Lake County for its contributions to the Moving Wall. “This was truly a community effort,” he said, adding he'd never seen the county pitch in with such fervor.
Parker presented the Veteran of the Year Award to Feiro, noting as he did so that “this is long overdue.”
Feiro was chosen for his work to honor veterans through military funeral services, Parker explained.
Parker remarked on the constant, diligent nature of Feiro's work. He said he once asked Feiro about all the things he must do in organizing a military funeral for a veteran, and Feiro showed him a list of 29 items.
Feiro gave credit to the 25 members of the team, who he said make it go and do it “because it's the right thing to do.”
From the stage he then gave the order to proceed with the three-rifle volley, which the team – stationed just outside – fired before two trumpet players from the Clear Lake High School Band played “Taps.”
After the event, both Feiro and Gotham appeared pleased and surprised.
“I'm shocked,” said Gotham.
Those who made the Wednesday ceremony possible included the Clear Lake High School Band; Emily Barker, who sang the “Star-Spangled Banner”; Kelseyville Sea Scouts; AJ Carlson, who offered the event's invocation; Robert Deppe of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who provided the sound system; and Lake County 4-H members, Brown said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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