This Sunday is Veterans Day, and Pajaro Valley veterans will be honored this weekend with several events in Watsonville.
Some important facts about Veterans Day:
- Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving.
- There were 21.5 million veterans in the U.S. in 2011.
- Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, first proclaimed on Nov. 11, 1919, to mark the 1-year anniversary of the end of World War I. It wasn't until 1954 that Congress expanded the holiday (and changed its name) to honor all veterans.
The Watsonville-Santa Cruz Japanese American Citizens League is hosting a screening of Valor With Honor, an independent documentary film on the last interviews of Japanese American vets that served in the World War II 442nd Regimental Combat Team at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
In 2011, the US Army's World War II vets that served in the 100th Battalion, 442nd RCT, and MIS were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for outstanding service to the country.
The film will be shown at the JACL Kizuka Hall, 150 Blackburn St. in Watsonville. For more info see the attached poster and/or the website www.valorwithonor.com.
Then, on Sunday, the annual Veterans Day Parade and Program will be held. The parade starts at 10:15 a.m. at Ford and Main streets; the program will follow at the Veterans Hall on East Beach Street at 10:50 a.m.
