Pasadena Salutes Those Who Served With Virtual Veterans Day Commemoration

[UPDATED] Pasadena is planning to honor the nation’s military members on Veterans Day in a socially distanced gesture of gratitude that can be viewed from anywhere with a television or internet connection.

The city generally holds a Veterans Day event each year, but with the pandemic still raging through the region, the commemoration on Wednesday has been moved to a virtual format in the form of an hour-long tribute to be broadcast on TV, as well as streamed online, according to city officials.

“Despite the pandemic, the city of Pasadena is pausing to remember the service and sacrifice of our military veterans,” said former Pasadena mayor, Vietnam-era Marine Corps veteran, and Pasadena Veterans Day Committee member Bill Paparian.

The presentation will include multiple speakers, including Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Shamoneka Collins of Pasadena, Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek, Paparian, and Pasadena police Detective and retired Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Joaquin Gurrola.

“We can expect a shamelessly patriotic tribute to America’s veterans,” Paparian said.

Paparian said his personal connection to the military runs deep.

Paparian said his parents met while his mother was a Red Cross volunteer at a hospital where his father was receiving treatment after being wounded in the South Pacific during World War II.

“My earliest memory is not my dad playing catch with me or swinging me in a swing at the playground. My earliest memory is my dad teaching me flag etiquette,” he said.

“It’s important that we as Americans remember that there are those in our country who have stepped up to serve our country,” Paparian said. “And despite the pandemic, despite all the complications of COVID-19, this city will always remember the service and sacrifice of our military veterans.”

Veterans Day has a special meaning for those who are serving, explained U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Darnel Wilson, assigned to the 2d Battalion, 23d Marines in Pasadena.

“This is not only the day for individual branches, to say thank you to them, but it’s a day for everybody of all branches of the service… to say, ‘Thank you’ to other servicemen,” he said.

“Veterans Day is really the day where we pay homage to the ones who came before us,” Wilson said. “And these are mostly the best that are in. The Marines and the Army and the Air Force that participated in D-Day and stormed the beaches, from the island-hopping campaign of the Marines to the air offensive over Normandy. And this is the day that we really honor them.”

Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport Authority President Ross Selvidge, a decorated combat veteran of the U.S. Navy who retired with the rank of commander after four years of active duty and 23 more years as a reservist, said he will miss the usual in-person gathering, but is nonetheless looking forward to the virtual event.

“It’s unfortunate that you can’t get together and actually have the camaraderie that you would with a meeting in person,” he said.

Selvidge, too, has a family history deeply tied to military service.

“I’m the eighth generation of my family to put on the uniform and go to war,” he said.

“Unlike Memorial Day, which is explicitly for the members of the armed forces that were killed in battle, this is for all the people that have served in the armed forces,” he said. “So this is not quite as solemn an occasion. It’s for all the veterans who have served and the ones that are still serving.”

As a police officer who has served 20 years as a Marine reservist, Gurrola said he sees his career in law enforcement as an extension of the same principles.

“Every officer-veteran, we kind of strive to serve our citizens the way we serve our country overseas,” he said. “It’s very similar. We’re very humble to the basic philosophy: Protect the weak and oppress and bring those who would do harm to our citizens to justice.

“As a veteran, as a police officer, we have a keen desire to serve the people in both our nation and our community, and it’s an honorable position to be in, having served our nation and continuing to serve our citizens here at home,” Gurrola said. “Having that trust amongst our citizens is very important for us and I think we’re all honored. We’re honored as veterans and we’re honored as police officers.”

Wednesday’s presentation will be broadcast on KPAS TV, Charter Spectrum Channel 3, and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99, as well as online at pasadenamedia.org/channel/kpas.

A schedule of returns will be posted at pasadenamedia.org/arroyo.

See also:

Pasadena to Host Virtual Veterans Day Tribute