Hundreds Pause to Honor Veterans : Ceremonies: An Oxnard memorial is dedicated at a bittersweet service. Military leaders speak at the Reagan library.

As the bugle sounded the somber notes of taps under a bright blue Oxnard sky, Dolores Smith burst into tears.

She had come to Plaza Park to honor her nephew Richard Saldana, an Oxnard resident killed in combat during the Vietnam War.

The names of Saldana and 131 other fallen hometown soldiers are inscribed in the black granite pyramids of the Oxnard Veterans Memorial that was dedicated Monday in a moving, bittersweet ceremony. The dedication, attended by more than 1,000 people, was one of several Veterans Day services held throughout Ventura County.

“He was so little the last time he came home,” Smith sobbed, while her father, World War II veteran Tommy Smith, consoled her with a hug.

“He told me, ‘Auntie, I’m going into the service.’ I said, ‘Do you have to go?’ He said, ‘Yes, but don’t worry, I’ll be back.’

“But he never came back.”

For veterans of World Wars I and II, it was a day to swap stories, renew friendships and take pride in a job well done.

For Korean War veterans, it was a chance to remember those who died in the “forgotten war.”

For those who fought in Vietnam, it was the welcome they didn’t receive when they came home and another reminder that some comrades may have been left behind.

And for the family of Pfc. Anthony Troy Patterson, whose name stands alone in the pyramid dedicated to the Persian Gulf War, it was a mixture of pain and healing.

“Just standing here and seeing his name brings back so many memories,” Patterson’s cousin Amanda McGee said quietly. “Troy was such a joyful person. We grew up together. He loved this country and gave his life to defend it.”

The ceremony opened with a parade of veterans and their families. Among them was Vietnam veteran Ray Balades, whose brother David’s name is inscribed on the memorial.

Suffering advanced cancer of the pancreas and liver that his family attributes to Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant used in Vietnam by U.S. forces, Balades struggled to stay on his feet, refusing to use his wheelchair.

“I want to walk for this one,” he told his wife, Emily. Nearby, a group of Navy submarine veterans from World War II, dressed in blue vests and Australian hats with ostrich feathers, proudly displayed their colors.

“It’s nice to be here for this dedication, now we have our own little memorial,” said Fred Messacar.

The parade was led by Korean War veteran Gerry Lopez, who stood vigil by the pyramids Monday night in a camouflage Army uniform “to make sure nobody defaces the monument.” The ceremony brought him “a lot of sadness, heartache and anxiety, but also hope for everlasting peace,” Lopez said.

After the parade, it was time for speeches. Oxnard Councilman Manuel Lopez thanked artist Elizabeth Nevandro Perez for designing the monument, the local union shops for donating their labor, local veterans for tracking down the names of the deceased, and the donors who helped raise $55,000 to build the pyramids.

Keynote speaker Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) said the United States will never renew diplomatic ties with Vietnam until every Vietnam veteran missing in action is accounted for.

Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D--Carpinteria) said the state should never attempt to balance its budget by reducing health care, education and housing programs for veterans.

Then the bugle sounded.

Vietnam veteran Tom Van Putten bent down toward his buddy Larry Sequin’s wheelchair. They held hands, then embraced and wept in silence. Sequin lost a leg in Vietnam.

“These are the real heroes,” Van Putten said, his voice trembling. “The ones who died. The ones who gave parts of their bodies for this country.”

In Simi Valley, more than 500 people, many waving miniature American flags and wearing Desert Storm T-shirts, turned out to celebrate Veterans Day at the newly dedicated Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The ceremony featured speeches from past and present military leaders, a 21-gun salute and a flyover by a squadron of four former military pilots in World War II planes.

Albert E. (Scotty) Olsberg, 92, was one of two World War I veterans who attended the ceremony. Olsberg, who served in the British Army, said he still remembers the day the war ended.

“We got down on our knees and thanked God it was over,” he said.

In Moorpark, American Legion Post 502 raised a new flag and placed a memorial wreath on a street corner. In Santa Paula, a service was held at the Veterans Memorial in Civic Center Park. And in Ventura, a candlelight vigil was held at the County Government Center to honor Vietnam veterans who died in action.