MEMORIAL DAY SERVICES

Memorial Day, the day on which the nation’s war dead are honored and remembered, will be observed this holiday weekend and on through next week in Orange County with ceremonies and services. The following is a list of some of the events planned. All are free and open to the public:

Eight recipients of the Medal of Honor will be presented with plaques in recognition of their service Sunday during a memorial ceremony at the Pearson Park amphitheater in Anaheim.

The program, “In Memory and Appreciation,” will also feature a concert by the U.S. Marine Band from El Toro and a flyover by two fighter jets from the Air National Guard. Officers and more than 100 enlisted men and women from the five branches of the military service will attend. The event starts at 1:45 p.m. The park is at Lemon and Cypress streets in Anaheim.

The historic Santa Ana Cemetery, 1919 E. Santa Clara Ave., will be the site of the Tri-Cities (Santa Ana, Tustin, Orange) Veterans group’s annual tribute to the nation’s war dead at 10 a.m. Monday.

The commander of the Southwest Region of the Naval Medical Command, Rear Adm. Robert B. Halder, will be the guest speaker at Fullerton’s 51st Annual Memorial Day Observance at 10 a.m. Monday at Loma Vista Memorial Park.

More than 5,000 crosses and flags have been placed on veterans’ graves throughout the cemetery in preparation for the ceremony. The Commodore Youth Band of Fullerton will perform patriotic music. Also participating will be an honor guard from El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the Fullerton Firefighters Assn. and the Fullerton Police Officers Assn. The cemetery is at 701 E. Bastanchury Road, Fullerton.

Orange County veterans will hold a candlelight ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in Santa Ana at 7 p.m. Monday.

Representatives from participating veterans organizations will place wreaths at the site, and Superior Court Judge David O. Carter, who served in Vietnam, will be the keynote speaker. The program is sponsored by the Orange County Veterans Advisory Council. The memorial is at 10 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana.

Representatives from Forest Lawn Memorial Parks & Mortuaries in Hollywood will show replicated Revolutionary era items as well as the slide show “Birth of Our Country” at a memorial program at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Garden Grove Elks Lodge No. 1952. The lodge is at 11551 Trask Ave. in Garden Grove.