The most powerful testimony to the the 52 young men from San Marino who gave their lives in America’s wars didn’t come from what was said at Monday’s acknowledgement of Memorial Day, but rather, what wasn’t. As the last of the names on the Lacy Park monument were read by San Marino Firefighter Dave Tannehill and ‘Taps’ was played by Kevin Brown, the entire audience stood in silent respect for more than three minutes, motionless, the sounds of a family softball game providing the only soundtrack to the solemn moment.
It was a fitting end to what one local historian called “the best yet” of the city’s Memorial Day ceremonies, words unable to do any further justice to those who, it had been said earlier, “gave the last full measure of devotion,” a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln.
Oh, the speeches were just fine, it’s just that the silence spoke the loudest. Mike Antonovich, for 36 years a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors who had been previously unable to appear at the ceremony for decades until he was termed off last fall, reprised a popular verse to illustrate his respect for our nation’s men and women in uniform.
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“It is the soldier, not the minister, who has given us freedom of religion,” Antonovich said. “It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to protest.”
Just 22-years-old, Alfred Hwang – a 2013 graduate of San Marino High School who was recently commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marino Corps, provided hope for the future with his inspirational address that was peppered with stories of his ROTC training at Villanova University, where he just received his diploma.
Hwang relayed a recent news story of a pair of men in Portland who were killed when they came to the defense of two women who had been the subject of anti-Muslim taunting.
“They both did what was right,” Hwang said. “Not seeking fame, or money, or appreciation, but because it was the right thing to do.”
“This story resonated with me,” he continued. “Because it reminded me of a common theme that I’ve been hearing all throughout my journey to get to where I am today – this idea of ‘selfless devotion.’ As a child, it meant a devotion to my family, to the parents that came to America with next to nothing and were able to work their way up and give my sister and I a comfortable life in San Marino. When I went to high school and started playing football, ‘selfless devotion’ took on new meaning. Coach Hobbie told us not to play for the crowd, or for our girlfriends, but for each other, selflessly devoted to the man to the left and right of us, afraid to let them down on any given play… film sessions after school on Mondays really drove that point home,” he said, eliciting a roar of laughter from the audience.
Hwang continued with a story from his ROTC training at Villanova, and the words of a drill instructor, who chided Hwang when he gave up during an exercise.
“Your Marines aren’t going to care how tired and exhausted you are, and what excuses you have,” Hwang said, recreating the emotion from that day. “You have to be selflessly devoted to them, so much so that you forget your own problems and excuses.”
“To be selflessly devoted is to be a patriot,” he said in closing. “And on this Memorial Day, let us never forget the patriots that have given their lives for the country they were selflessly devoted to – the United States of America.”
The audience was also addressed by Mayor Richard Sun; John Chou, president of the Chinese Club of San Marino; Pastor Jan Cook of San Marino Community Church; Joey Elliott, whop just finished his freshman year at American University and is a Cadet Private in the Georgetown ROTC; and Bob Dini, who sang patriotic songs for the assemblage.
Dini served in the United States Army as a Sergeant and as the official vocal soloist for the United States Army Band in Washington during the administrations of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.
Attention was also paid to Hwang, Carol Campbell – mother of San Marino High School graduate Sgt. Oliver Campbell, who was badly wounded in action last year in Iraq – and San Marino’s Blecksmith family, who lost their son, J.P., in Iraq in 2004.
“It would be nice for occasions like this, if we could do a whole lot better than just ‘thank you,’” it was said. “But until we come up with something better and equal to its higher purpose, ‘thank you’ is simply the best we can offer.”
