3 p.m. on Memorial Day Monday, May 25, 2015

BY

Do you know where you were?

Photo by Bert Barbay

Photographer Bert Barbay and his wife Kathy were at the Veteran’s Monument in the Towne Center. Debby Gagnon of Pack Wrap and Post, a member of the Veterans Day Committee, had taken the time to decorate the Veterans Monument with flags. Others had left flowers on the bricks of the fallen soldiers they wanted to remember.

Bert says, “Memorial Day weekend is when America pretends that summer has started. And if you’re like 80 percent of us, that’s where the meaning of the three-day holiday begins and ends. Which is why, in 2000, Congress passed ‘The National Moment of Remembrance Act’ as an added way of honoring America’s fallen heroes.”

Bert adds, “For one minute on Memorial Day, we’re all stopping everything to pay our respects to the men and women who died in service of our country, especially those who died in battle. The time of 3 p.m. was chosen because it’s likely when Americans are most enjoying the freedom made possible by those who died in service of their country.”

“Where are the Canyon Lakers who care?” he asks. “Believe me, there are many of us are out here. All we need is a simple call to action for one minute of silence at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day, May 30, 2016. Perhaps we can gather at our Veteran’s Memorial.”

Sgt. Eric Seaman, USMC

According to Sgt. Eric Seaman’s mother-in-law, Margie Thomas, a Canyon Lake resident, the family of the U.S. Marine killed in a helicopter crash during a humanitarian mission in Nepal plans to hold a memorial service at Storm Stadium in Lake Elsinore. They would love to fill the house in honor of the Wildomar native. Margie did not know the date at the time of publication, but this should become available in local news sources over the next few days.