Veterans Day 2011: Honor the Heroes

Tomorrow, Nov. 11, we celebrate Veterans Day, a national holiday to pay tribute to our military personnel serving or who have served in armed conflicts.

The in Princeton will host a ceremony in observance of Veterans Day at 11 a.m. Later, veterans and their guests are invited for an early bird dinner at either 3 or 5 p.m. of pork roast, cabbage, yams, onions, and salad. The post is located at 470 Capistrano Road.

Plans for the morning ceremony include raising the American flag and then lowering it to half-staff to "Taps" playing in the background, "but if it rains we'll have to put the flags out under cover since they can't be out in the storm that's predicted for tomorrow," said Ron Denchfield, the post's commander.

There will also be an opening prayer "if we can round up a chaplin for it," said Denchfield, and traditionally every year Marine Corps veteran Ooga Smith makes a presentation. Then the microphone will be turned over to any veteran or relative of a veteran with a story he or she wants to tell about military service.

The dinner is free for veterans. There will be a charge for non-veterans.

For information, call 728-9224.

"Many town veterans are participating in the event," said Denchfield, including Staff Sergeant Louis Bertolucci of El Granada.

Last year, Patch featured Bertolucci, who recalled his experience in World War II in an article Veterans Day: A Time of Reflection before attending the Legion's Nov. 11 ceremonies.

This year, we're inviting military personnel from the Half Moon Bay community to submit photos of their service with a short caption. If you want to add more to the caption, just share in the comments section. We look forward to your participation as we honor our nation's veterans.