By Staff Report
Photo by Marty Cheek
Al Simmons, who served in Korea as a U.S. Marine from 1950 to 1955, salutes during the singing of the national anthem during the May 26 Memorial Day service at downtown Morgan Hill’s Veterans Memorial Square
“In honor of all the men and women who fought and gave their lives and remain missing in the defense of the United States of America,” a crowd of more than 100 local residents gathered Memorial Day morning at Morgan Hill’s Veterans Memorial Square.
Among them was Kat Gunter and her mother Dee, who come every year to the special service in respect for her father Mervin Gunter, a U.S. Army soldier who fought in Vietnam. Kat softly touched her fingers on a bronze plaque listing her father’s name along with other Morgan Hill veterans on the square’s flag pole.
“It means so much,” she said. “My family has been in this little town for almost 100 years and we’ve had numerous veterans in the family – we’ve had quite a few. We’re all just one big family in this little community.”
The square was dedicated May 27, 1991 with the first local Memorial Day downtown service to honor veterans of U.S. Armed Forces who made their home in Morgan Hill and the South Valley region, said Eddie Bower, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam.
“I went to school with many guys who died there,” he said, describing how the idea came about. “When I came back, I kept thinking we need something out here. At one time, I thought about putting a little pole in the ground with a plaque on it. Finally, they told me I could put something in the middle (of the median) here, and I decided maybe we can do it for all wars.”
The square and the annual service helps people cope with grief and their loss, he said. “Being able to touch something is really important to a lot of people,” he said. “You’ll see them, they’ll come up and put their hands on the name.”
Veterans Memorial Square Honor Roll: Freedom is not free:
Harry N. Schneider, Everett Alward, Jerome Ferguson, Virgil Mary, Hachiro Mukai, Charles Raney, Donald Skillicom, Walter Wyman, Martin Barthe, Charles Giordano, Joseph Messina, Joe Nunez, Donald Ray, Richard White, Merlin Martin, Warren Mosegard, Richard Pileggi, Odell Witfield, Ora Baugher, Earl Stout, Frank Rosas, Gerald Ferris, James R. Bohling, Richard D. Garcia, Frederick Lee Holmes, Adrian S. Lopez, John Nishimura, Gary Docs, James M. DeAbre (Hite), Arnold Lee Leonard, Jr., Richard Perez, Jimmy Lee Shields, Tim Udertiz, Donald Ferguson, Allen Henry Perry, Billy C. Robinson, Victor J. Priest, John D. Schwartz, Kevin J. Arata
