ALAMEDA — With speeches, prayers, the sounding of taps and a tossing of a wreath into San Franciso Bay, the women and men who died serving this nation were remembered on Memorial Day aboard the USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum.
Hundreds turned out for the annual event, one of the few held locally where people could gather amid the pandemic to remember soldiers, sailors and airmen killed in action, as well as veterans who have died.
In San Jose, people remembered fallen service members during a service at Oak Hill Memorial Park, founded in 1847 and the oldest and largest secular cemetery in California.
State Sen. Dave Cortese, who represents much of Santa Clara County, along with Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, and San Jose Councilwoman Dev Davis were among those who spoke during the ceremony.
One of the original Rosie the Riveters, 101-year-old Mary Fierros, also was acknowledged at the event.
Classic cars from Hot San Jose Nights were on display, as were military vehicles, and members of the Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America performed a 21-gun salute.
Angela Tirado, known as the “Voice of San Jose,” sang the National Anthem during the approximately 50-minute event.
In Alameda, before the ceremony even started, the line waiting to board the decommissioned aircraft carrier stretched about half a city block.
“It is obviously our duty and our honor to remember those who have fallen,” said Fred Jaffin, a retired U.S. Navy captain who sits on the Alameda County Veterans Affairs Commission.
Jaffin, who grew up in Pennsylvania and enlisted in the Navy in 1960 and retired from the military in 1991, also urged those gathered to remember their friends and family who have died, even those who have not served.
“We should consider it remembrance day,” he said.
Jaffin, now a Hayward resident who worked in the defense industry after leaving the Navy, was the event’s main speaker.
He threw the wreath of red, white and blue flowers onto the bay’s water from the ship’s fantail as people crowded around him, taking photos on their cellphones.
Among those on hand was Mark Nazario, 32, who traveled from San Francisco to attend.
“It’s important that we acknowledge the sacrifice people have made for this country,” said Nazario, noting that it was his first visit to the museum. “Memorial Day is not just about barbecues and hanging out.”
He wore socks featuring the stars and stripes as a way to help mark the holiday.
Henry Wang, 43, of Oakland came with his wife and three children.
“I was never in the military,” Wang said. “But I know people who have and I respect them. That’s why I am here.”
Commissioned in November 1943, the Hornet saw fierce action during World War II before going on to serve in the Vietnam War. The ship also recovered the crews of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, the first two missions to land men on the Moon, from the Pacific Ocean after the astronauts returned to Earth.
The Hornet was decommissioned in 1970 and opened as a floating museum in 1998.
After the wreath tossing, visitors lingered to look at exhibits on the ship’s history, as well as about the military and America’s space program in the Hornet’s cavernous hangar bay. Others made their way to the flight deck to take in the San Francisco skyline.
The pandemic led many Memorial Day events to be canceled, including at Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery, which has a plot for Civil War veterans.
Volunteers still showed up, however, to place flags on the spots of interred military members.
Along with Jaffin, Leon Watkins briefly spoke aboard the Hornet in Alameda.
A former U.S. Marine, Watkins appeared in the 1989 feature film “Glory,” and spearheads the group The Walking Ghost of Black History, which aims to promote and highlight the contributions Blacks have made to American military history.
