Country Joe's Place

Berkeley Veterans Day, 2003

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The first Berkeley Veterans' Day commemoration was a great success. Hopefully it will become an annual event. Some background.


It was a beautiful day and a good crowd turned out in Berkeley's Martin Luther King Park.

Country Joe did double duty as Master of Ceremonies, and, as seen here, singing "Peace on Earth."

Berkeley City Council members lay commemorative wreaths in honor of each branch of the military. That's Dona Spring in the foreground.

BERKELEY RADICALS BURN AMERICAN FLAGS!! Oh ... never mind. Boy Scouts demonstrate the proper way to retire worn-out flags.

Attendees view the mock-up of the planned WWII casualty plaque. See the names.

The color guard.

The bagpipers.


From the City of Berkeley press release:

Berkeley, a city known for its anti-war tradition, will honor its sons and daughters who have served in America's wars with a Veterans Day ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2003.

The ceremony will be hosted by Vietnam era anti-war singer/songwriter Country Joe McDonald, a Navy veteran.

The event will take place at Martin Luther King Civic Center Park. It will begin at 11:11 a.m. - the same time when the guns fell silent in 1918 to end World War I. Veterans' Day, originally named Armistice Day, has its origin in that cease-fire.

The inter-generational observance will include patriotic music by the Piedmont High School Bagpipers, Berkeley resident Joey Blake, a faculty member at Susan Muscarella's well-known Berkeley institution, The Jazzschool, as well as a veteran himself, laying of wreaths by veterans and families of Berkeleyans currently deployed, a ceremonial retirement of old flags by color guards from the UC Berkeley ROTC, Boy Scout Troops 14 and 19, Venture Scout Crew 26 and Cub Scout Pack 30, and the traditional playing of "Taps.".

"This will be an opportunity for Berkeley citizens of all ages and political beliefs to come together to thank those men and women who have served in our armed forces, and to express our hope for a more peaceful world." says Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, an Army veteran who, with McDonald, co-chairs the citizens' committee organizing the event.


Program

MUSICAL PRELUDE
Piedmont High Youth Bagpipe Band

HISTORY OF VETERANS DAY
Ron Brill

PRESENTATION OF COLORS
University of California at Berkeley Reserve Officers Corp Training Program and
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA Berkeley Troops 19, 14 and 24

THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
Joey Blake
Local performer and faculty member, The Jazzschool, Berkeley.

LOWERING OF FLAG TO HALF MAST
Ron Brill

INVOCATION
Chaplain George Mendes, U.S.C.G.

HISTORY OF FLAG RETIREMENT
Ron Brill

"TAPS"

WELCOME
Country Joe McDonald

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Mayor Tom Bates

REMARKS
Assemblymember Loni Hancock, 14th Assembly District
Director Shirley Issel, Berkeley Unified School District
Nate Harrison, Commander, Chapter 25, D.A.V. of Berkeley
W.C. "Bill" Armstrong, WWII Veteran
Joe De Alba, Korean War Veteran
Father William "Bill" Fay, WWII Veteran
Pat McCullough, City of Berkeley Employee and Navy Veteran

We honor the many Berkeley citizens now serving in the Armed Forces as well as the following City of Berkeley employees currently on Active Duty :
Anthony Hall III, Berkeley Fire Department
Ana Baber, Berkeley Police Department
Stephen Burcham, Berkeley Police Department
Christopher Lovero, Berkeley Police Department
Katherine Smith, Police Department

MUSICAL INTERLUDE
PEACE ON EARTH -- Country Joe McDonald
VETERANS POEM -- Marca Lamore
AMAZING GRACE -- Piedmont High Youth Bagpipe Band

LAYING OF WREATHS
The six wreaths being laid at the Peace Wall today symbolize each branch of the military:
ARMY, NAVY, MARINE CORPS, AIR FORCE, COAST GUARD and MERCHANT MARINE.

BENEDICTION
Chaplain George Mendes

CLOSING REMARKS
Country Joe McDonald

"AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"
Joey Blake

RECEPTION
Veterans Building Lobby
Music by Berkeley High School String Ensemble


More pictures of the 2003 commemoration, courtesy of Tom Edwards.
Pictures of the 2004 commemoration, courtesy of Tom Edwards.

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