Estancia and Newport Harbor highs honor military alumni for Memorial Day

Using murals and uniform displays, Estancia and Newport Harbor high schools honored alumni who have served in the armed forces with Memorial Day ceremonies this week.

On Thursday evening, Estancia, in Costa Mesa, dedicated its newly completed Freedom Wall mural in a campus hallway. The mural was drawn and painted by 11 students and history teachers Jon Williams and Scott Kahawai.

The wall, dedicated to the dozens of Estancia alumni who have served, depicts service men and women from each branch of the military.

Williams and Kahawai released an announcement in the fall calling for volunteer artists for the project.

“I saw this as an opportunity to paint and draw, but it became something more meaningful,” Estancia junior Sarah Tran said.

The team spent weekends and after-school hours on the mural, completing it in six months.

Thursday’s dedication, attended by more than 100 people, featured guest speaker Dan Foster, an Army specialist and Silver Star medal recipient from Estancia’s class of 2006.

At Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach, more than 250 students, teachers, members of the Freedom Committee of Orange County and others participated in the school’s annual Memorial Day ceremony Friday.

Students read aloud the names of 38 Newport Harbor alumni who died serving in the military.

Students also helped set up a display on the field featuring military uniforms from different eras. One was the jungle fatigues that Freedom Committee Vice President Frank Pangborn wore when he came home from the Vietnam War.

“It’s wonderful how the school honors those who lost their lives who came from Newport Harbor,” Pangborn said.

Newport Harbor’s guest speaker was Estancia Principal Michael Halt, who served in the Marine Corps for nearly 30 years.