Tribute Wall Depicts Gilroy's Veterans

The City of Gilroy has a 2011 Gilroy Veterans Tribute on display in city hall, depicting over 400 photos of local veterans from seven different wars.

This is the 12th year the display has been featured in city hall. Photos include each soldier’s name, rank, branch of service, the area they were stationed and the years they served, according to City of Gilroy Public Information Officer, Joe Kline, who has been maintaining the display for the last 11 years.

The photos tell a story of Gilroy‘s local history. There are community members from the late 1800s to present depicted, including local figures from different sectors of the community like city council, schools and the police department.

“What’s really fun is seeing pictures of these people, most of them, age-wise, at least in their prime, and now they could be 60, 70, 80, 90 years old,” Kline said. “It sort of gives—especially younger people—an appreciation, [like] ‘Hey these people were like me once.’”

Kline said all the photos have been submitted by veterans and their family members on a voluntary basis, which is why the wall doesn’t  include the thousands of Gilroyans who have actually served.

“Although it looks like a lot of people for a town the size of Gilroy, this is just a very small percentage of the veterans,” he said.

“I think currently, veterans make up around seven percent of the population. Based on that there would be several thousand veterans in Gilroy, but this is just a voluntary thing where people will bring in pictures.”

The pictures on the wall with the thin, gold line around them indicate the soldiers who were killed in action. Kline said the majority of the photos include those who lived in Gilroy, while a couple are submissions from residents who had family members serve.

Above the photos that span across three walls is a tribute to Gilroy‘s veterans who were killed in action. Kline said the tribute includes four veterans from World War l, a bunch from World War II and veterans from the Korean and Vietnam wars. 

The tribute also includes fallen soldiers from recent wars, such as Jeramy Ailes, Gilroy’s first Iraq casualty from 2005, and the city’s most recent fallen solider, David Gutierrez, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009.

The memorial wall is available for viewing in city hall Monday through Friday, and is also being televised daily on Channel 17, with two one-hour showings at 9 a.m., and 7 p.m. Televised showings will continue through the holiday season.

Do you have a veteran in your family? Add their picture to this article. All veteran photos are welcome, including those currently serving. Just sign-in and click "add your own photos" beneath the photo box of this article. Please include a caption detailing the veteran's name, rank and the war they served in.