Local veterans from World War I to war on terror attend Memorial Day luncheon
By Darleen Principe Special to the Acorn

Photo Courtesy Sylvia Burnside REAL HEROES- A group of Simi Valley veterans enjoy the "Salute to Arms" luncheon held on Memorial Day at the Simi Valley Mormon church. According to Cherie Whitaker, the event's organizer, the noontime gathering was about reminding veterans that "they're loved and cared about."

Nearly 300 community members gathered on Memorial Day at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sinaloa Road to recognize the service of Simi Valley's war veterans, both living and deceased.

More than 50 local businesses sponsored the ceremony and free luncheon for veterans from World War I to the current Iraq conflict, their families and their friends.

The luncheon, called "A Salute to Arms," marked the second annual official celebration of its kind in Simi Valley.

"It's gone way beyond my expectation of what it was going to be," said coordinator and Simi resident Cherie Whitaker, an active member of the Mormon Church.

According to Whitaker, the celebration began as a churchinspired event, but its main goal is to remind veterans that "they're loved and cared about." Whitaker planned last year's celebration as well and said she aims to make it even better next year.

SOLEMN MOMENT- Simi resident Paul Molé, proprietor of Paul's Italian Villa and a Marine Corps veteran, performs a moving rendition of "Taps."

"It ended up as a community pulling together in a fashion that it's never done before," Whitaker said.

The 10 a.m. ceremony that preceded the luncheon was held at Simi Valley Pioneer Cemetery.

At that ceremony, the families of four Simi Valley servicemen who lost their lives fighting in Iraq were given the opportunity to place a wreath at the foot of the cemetery's monument to veterans in honor of their lost loved one.

Those families included the DiRaimondo family, family of U.S. Army Sgt. Michael DiRaimondo who was killed Jan. 8, 2004, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Blackhawk helicopter he was traveling in; the Gibson family, family of Marine Cpl. Christopher Gibson, who was killed April 17, 2004, while trying to save another Marine's life during a firefight with insurgents; the House family, family of Naval Petty Officer 3rd Class John House, who was killed Jan. 26, 2005, along with nearly 30 other soldiers in two separate helicopter crashes; and the Venegas family, family of Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Venegas, who was killed April 7, 2005, in the Al Anbar province of Iraq as the result of a Humvee accident.

House's widow, Melanie, with the help of their 2-year-old son, James, whom House never met, laid a wreath in his honor.

The Salute to Arms program, officiated by Loren Southworth, began with the presentation of colors by the church's Boy Scout troops and "The Pledge of Allegiance," recited by Sal Ayala, the Disabled American Veterans, local chapter 55 "Outstanding Veteran of the Year" for 2007.

Also included in the program was Carla Gerber's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," a speech by Maj. Mark Schuster of the Ventura County Marine Corps League, musical presentations by the Simi Valley Stake Mormon Choir and an emotionally charged performance of "Taps" by Paul Mole of Paul's Italian Villa.

Robert Haseley, a docent at the Reagan Presidential Library and a member of the International Poet Society, paid tribute to the veterans at the luncheon by reciting a few of his original poems.

"I always felt guilty," Haseley said. "We'd sing about patriotism at a time when it was very unpopular."

Haseley said he attempted to enlist in the military during the Vietnam conflict but wasn't accepted because of medical problems. Still, he said, he never stopped supporting the troops, creating poetry to honor them.

Scott Simpson, general manager of Hometown Buffet in Simi Valley, one of the event's sponsors, came to the luncheon with his community services representative and several other employees who helped in the kitchen throughout the event.

"It's a cause that can't go unnoticed," Simpson said. "Everybody forgets what it's all about." Still, for 87-year-old Bill Schaver and his wife, Aileen, the luncheon proved to be a successful gesture by the community.

"It's quite an honor," said Schaver, a Simi resident who was stationed in North Africa as an aerial gunner with the Air Corps from 1942 to 1946 during WWII. He came from a family that included six brothers stationed during three different wars, where only three of them made it home alive.

"It's good to know somebody's still thinking of us," Schaver said.