Military honor guard becoming a vanishing breed in Valley

While crowds started to mill in front of Fresno City Hall on Thursday morning for the return of the largest Veterans day parade west of the Mississippi River, retired U.S. Army Master Sgt. Jackie Lovato was already busy preparing the VFW Post 8900 honor guard for its most important mission of the day.

That would be to signal the start of a commemoration that was interrupted last year by the pandemic.

For as long as post members can remember, their honor guard has provided the 21-gun salute to officially kick off the parade.

Lovato, a Colorado native who moved to Fresno and worked in the fields starting in the 1950s, made sure the six men and one woman were in place well in advance of the 11:11 a.m. start of the parade.

His biggest concern remains where future honor guards will come from.

“We’re having a hard time retaining some because they’re getting up there in their 80s,” said the 70-year-old Lovato, who appears fit enough to carry his assignment for another decade or two. “So, we’re looking for fresh blood in our post.”

Spectators of the parade which started at Fresno City Hall noticed many Latino veterans go by on foot, in vehicles or horseback.

“Latinos love the military,” said Lovato, who also directed Fresno State’s ROTC program for a couple of years.

Lovato, who was drafted in 1971 after he graduated from high school, said the Army was a way for him to provide for his family. Half of his paycheck went back to his parents. He served 36 years, which included one tour in Desert Storm (1990-91) and another tour in Afghanistan/Iraq (2006-07).

“I think that’s the way most of us Latino families do,” said Lovato, one of nine children. “It’s a way to give back to their country and give back to their families.”

Four brothers served in the military, and he has a son that is a veteran.

VFW Post 8900 was founded in 1947 by Mexican American veterans who were denied entry into other posts in the San Joaquín Valley.

What public leaders said

The Central Valley Veterans Parade featured marching bands, floats, dancers, singers, tanks, and politicians. Lots of politicians.

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said the U.S. has been a “beacon of light around the world for these freedoms that we cherish, and that we enjoy as a part of what America is all about.

Yet, he acknowledged “that our wonderful, incredible, resilient democracy can be fragile.”

He said that was evident on Jan. 6 when the U.S. Capital was stormed. Veterans Day, he said, “reminds us that our freedoms are so important and we do not want to do anything ever to take away from these very important freedoms.”

Assemblymember Joaquín Arámbula, D-Fresno, was accompanied by one of his daughters for the parade.

“It’s important for us to teach the next generation about the sacrifice and service that so many have given to us,” said Arámbula.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer called upon people to “unite, regardless of our differences.”

“We live in a very divided country today where, unfortunately, political extremism captures the headlines and saturates our social media,” said Dyer. “It seems we can no longer agree to disagree in a civil manner.

“We have lost sight of the one word that makes us the greatest country in the world; and, that is the word ‘united.’ We are the United States of America.”

Fresno City Council President Luis Chávez, who was accompanied by the entire city council and Dyer during his remarks, announced the creation of the Fresno Veterans Memorial District which “is long overdue.”

Details will be announced in a couple of months, he said.

Chávez said Veterans Day began in 1918 as a recognition of peace.

“But we know that peace did not come easy. It was paid by the blood and sacrifice of soldiers in World War I, and the legacy in service and sacrifice to our country continues by our veterans to this day,” said Chávez.

He said much remains to be done for the 36,000 veterans who live in the Fresno area.

“We estimate that we still have hundreds of veterans that are homeless in our city,” he said. “There are still wait times for veterans to receive medical services. We’re going to be working on it.”

Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 11 de noviembre de 2021, 8:28 p. m..