War and Remembrance

They are older now. Their faces are creased with wrinkles, their backs bent by age.

But as taps sounded through a lone, solemn horn and the flag snapped in the springtime breeze, the memories of being young and strong and charged with protecting the freedoms so cherished by Americans came streaming back in a flood of bowed heads and teary eyes.

In ceremonies from Ventura to Thousand Oaks to Moorpark on Monday--the last day of a three-day weekend also celebrated with barbecues and beach outings--veterans and thankful residents alike gathered to mark Memorial Day.

They turned out to acknowledge their debt to the more than 1 million American soldiers who have given their lives in defense of their country.

“Everything has a price,” said Daniel Harding, a Korean War veteran who honored fallen comrades during a ceremony at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura. “And freedom--well, it just seems to cost the most.”

In a celebration that saw more tears than smiles, more than 500 people, some dressed in outgrown fatigues with dangling medals and others with family in tow, gathered on a grassy expanse at Ivy Lawn to remember the country’s war dead and offer thanks for such selfless sacrifice.

Row upon row of veterans from every armed conflict since World War II, some sporting caps embroidered with the names of places they served and others clothed in their finest dress uniforms, attended to remember friends lost on the battlefield.

There were parents with restless children who wanted to impart the great cost at which freedom was won and has been preserved.

And there were those who showed up alone to pay respects to friends and family who died in battle.

“Without remembering the past, we will never understand our future,” said state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), the event’s keynote speaker. “It is so important that we remember those who gave their lives for us. . . . Today we honor their sacrifice.”

With a layer of heavy gray clouds adding poignancy to the annual holiday, the event ended as a Navy fighter screamed by just a few hundred feet above and white doves were released in a symbolic statement of hope for peace around the world.

In Thousand Oaks, several dozen veterans and residents gathered to celebrate the holiday with the dedication of the Freedom Tree--an oak planted in remembrance to Eric Huberth, an MIA whose plane was shot down over Cambodia in 1970.

“Our whole lives were changed by that ominous telegram and a man who walked up our driveway and said, ‘Your son was shot down over hostile territory,’ ” said Eric’s sister Suzanne Huberth.

“Since then, we’ve lived in a sort of limbo, not knowing if he’s alive or dead. . . . We’ve never had an ending for this, but know in our hearts that the next time we see Eric it will be in another place, in another time, when we are all with God.”

While the holiday was a chance for communities to pay their respects to the nation’s felled soldiers, for Janet Fleming of Thousand Oaks, it was a chance to teach her two children, Catherine and Benjamin, about the high costs of enjoying a free society.

“Last night my daughter started talking about today and all the barbecues that would be going on and didn’t even know what the holiday was about,” Fleming said. “They don’t know what being in a war is like, but I think it’s important they understand.”

While some remembered history, others headed to the beach or a park to enjoy the last of the three-day weekend that traditionally marks the start of summer.

From Santa Barbara to the Los Angeles County line, cars crawled along the region’s highways.

CHP Officer Ray Sandoval said there were no major accidents Monday, but about 70% of the officers were to be patrolling through midnight. There were 29 alcohol-related arrests between Friday and Monday afternoon, he said.

Meanwhile, recreational vehicles and minivans loaded with bikes, surfboards and lawn chairs jammed beach parking lots in Ventura, despite low marine clouds that hung over the county during the morning.

But most of the clouds burned off near the coast by midafternoon, and temperatures edged up to 66 degrees in Ventura and 77 in Thousand Oaks. In-line skaters coasted down the bumpy promenade in Ventura, happy vacationers strolled up and down the pier, and children danced in the surf, running down to a wave, then letting it chase them back.

The air smelled like summer--a mix of French fries and salt air. And families sprawled on blankets under beach umbrellas.

Some people even ventured into the chilly water without wetsuits--like 10-year-old C.J. McKinney of Provo, Utah.

In Ventura for the weekend visiting his stepbrothers, C.J. spent 15 minutes in the ocean Monday. Wrapped in a towel with a giant lizard on it, sand still stuck to his feet, C.J. shivered. His hand felt like an ice cube.

“This is like my third time in the ocean,” he said, and it was his first this year. It was cold, he said, but he got used to it. And the ocean was way better than lakes, he said.

Lifeguards said the cooler weather Monday meant there were about the same number of people as on a normal weekend this time of year.

Many of those still on the beach by late afternoon wrapped themselves in towels and beach blankets while their children romped nearby in bathing suits.

“This is a beach day,” said John Hopkins of Moorpark, who watched daughter Kelsey, 6, prance in the surf. “She’s been begging to go in the water all day. I thought it was too cold, but I guess not.”

Over at the Ventura Beach RV Resort, many campers had left by Monday afternoon. But RV park worker Pete Martin said the place was booked solid through the weekend.

The park was covered by a layer of mud when the Ventura River overflowed in February, and the owners worked for months to dig themselves out from under the dirt and get ready for this weekend.

“The dirt was packed so tight it wouldn’t even slide out of a dump truck,” said Martin.

The front half of the park opened several weeks ago and the back half on Thursday.

Back at the beach, Benita Rodriguez of the San Fernando Valley shuffled up the ramp from the beach to the parking lot, her body wrapped in the cocoon of a blanket. When someone asked if she was cold, she just laughed.

Finally, as the clouds settled farther down, the day at the beach was over. Families packed up their coolers and toys and loaded them into their cars for the long ride home.