Veterans groups lead ceremonies on Memorial Day in Fort Bragg

FORT BRAGG, 5/29/23 — A motorist arriving in Fort Bragg on Memorial Day could offer thanks no matter which way he turned. At the end of Highway 20, a driver turning right to head into Fort Bragg crosses the Lt. Charles L. Larson Memorial Bridge over the Noyo River. The bridge was bedecked for Memorial Day, which honors the service of military heroes who died serving in America’s wars. Lt .Larson flew off in his fighter plane in the South Pacific in 1944 and was never seen again. He had hoped to resume working as a fisherman with his father, Gustav “Cap” Simonson, going in and out of Noyo Harbor. When a brand new Noyo Harbor Bridge was dedicated in 1948, it was named for the fisherman/fighter pilot. When the second bridge was dedicated in 2005, his tearful sister, Florence Larson Simonson of Fort Bragg, was saluted by the assembled band and mayor.

“This was his playground and workplace before the war,” Simonson told this reporter, pointing to the harbor below.

But perhaps the driver turned left, to head across the Emil H. Evensen Memorial Bridge over Hare Creek. Evensen was killed in action in 1943 fighting Japanese troops on the Aleutian island of Attu during World War II. The Emil H. Evensen bridge was built in 1947 and remains sturdy to this day, although its rails are crumbling. A $24-million rehabilitation project is scheduled for 2025.

Vietnam veteran Rick Cooper decorated both bridges to honor the fallen servicemen from Fort Bragg. Later that morning Cooper, past commander of Fort Bragg American Legion Post Sequoia #96, offered a solemn remembrance beneath a large American flag flying at half mast.

“Again, our nation has assembled to honor its heroic dead,” Cooper said. “A thousand battles of land and sea and air echo the glory of their valiant deeds. Under the quiet sod or beneath the murmuring waves, their bodies sleep in peace. But in the destinies of veterans, their souls go marching on. Because of them, our lives are free; because of them, our nation lives.” Cooper said there are no World War II veterans left in the American Legion Sequoia post and only three Korean War veterans. 

Thousands of communities across the USA hold celebrations on Memorial Day, including a half dozen in Mendocino County. A similar ceremony was held at the cemetery in Mendocino an hour before the Fort Bragg affair. 

After ceremonies involving prayers and a wreath presentation by American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars members, there was a gun salute, playing of taps by American Legion Chaplain Allen Ownbey and then the traditional raising of the flag to full mast. A potluck was held at the Veterans Hall in Fort Bragg, featuring Bob Canclini’s famous spaghetti recipe. The cook got a big applause after dinner.

The American Legion was created in France by a thousand officers and enlisted service members during World War I. At that time, most veterans organizations had been formed after the Civil War by veterans and were limited to those who had served in that war. The exception was the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formed in 1899 and open to veterans of all wars who had served in combat.

The American Legion first was limited to veterans of World War I. Sequoia Post 96 was incorporated on May 14, 1931. In 1942, the national Legion adopted the practice of the VFW to become an ongoing  organization, rather than die off as its membership aged. The Legion’s charter was changed to allow veterans of World War II to join. Unlike the VFW, the American Legion does not limit its membership to those who have served in combat. Any veteran can join. In Fort Bragg the two groups have shared the hall across from the library for more than a half century, doing community service projects. Both groups were dedicated to community service, to assisting veterans, to promoting “Americanism” as well as opposing autocracy in all its forms. After World War I there was an anti-European fervor for both the American Way and for watchdogging politicians who might ignore, forget or wish to recklessly engage service members. Both VFW and American Legion have been mostly apolitical in the past thirty years, except for lobbying for veterans’ causes and benefits. Their main purpose has become community charity.

The American Legion has a chapter of the increasingly popular riders group, which is limited to those who have a motorcycle and want to participate in fundraising rides for community causes.

The American Legion Riders meet at 6 p.m at the Laurel Deli in Fort Bragg on the first Tuesday of the month. The American Legion post meeting, a potluck, is the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at Veterans Hall in Fort Bragg. VFW Post 11166, which was chartered in 1991, normally meets at the hall on the second Tuesday of the month.

The American Legion and VFW reached membership peaks in the early 1990s, with many WWII veterans retired and Vietnam vets joining in larger numbers nationally. Numbers had declined from over 2 million in 1992 to just over 1 million in 2018, but have been rising since.

There are 80 active members In the American Legion Sequoia Post 96.  New officers for Sequoia Post 96  for 2023-2024 have been  elected and will be installed in June 2023

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