Simi honors its vets
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

Acorn file photo IN RESPECT- Werner Pohle of Simi Valley, a member of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 55, carries a flag during the Veterans Day Services held at Veterans' Plaza in Rancho Tapo Community Park last year.

Residents across the city will be honoring retired and activeduty members of the armed forces this weekend as part of Simi's long-standing tradition of recognizing Veterans Day.

The main ceremony to honor veterans will take place Sunday at 11 a.m. at Veterans Plaza in Rancho Tapo Community Park. Members of the public are encouraged to attend.

"We have to remember those who've died," said Salvador Ayala, the commander of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 55 of Simi Valley and a paratrooper for the U.S. Army in the Korean War. "This day commemorates the freedom of our nation and of ourselves."

Put on by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, the Simi Valley Elks Lodge, and the local VFW and DAV, the ceremony will feature a keynote address by retired U.S. Army Col. George Compton, a Ventura County resident.

City council members Steve Sojka and Barbra Williamson are also scheduled to speak.

At 2 p.m. that same day, the Ronald Reagan Library will host its annual Veterans Day celebration, highlighted by the 562nd Air Force Band of the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest.

The library will hold separate festivities on Monday beginning at 11 a.m.

All veterans and active military members with valid identification will be admitted into the library and Air Force One Pavilion for free on both days.

Simi Valley schools are also getting involved.

White Oak Elementary School is holding its 10th annual Veterans Day ceremony today at 8:45 a.m.

During the ceremony, students read aloud from essays about what their country means to them, and the school bell and vocal choirs perform the anthems of each branch of the U.S. military.

Guests expected to attend include Assemblymember Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita), U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Thousand Oaks) and Deborah Riley, the director of elementary education for the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Principal Dee Pekrul said the event is attended by several local veterans, most of whom are in some way related to a child at the school.

"It makes it very real to them," Pekrul said. "We're not talking about someone in the newspaper or on TV- we're talking about dads, uncles, grandparents, people in some of our students' homes. The ones that need to be recognized the most are those who are serving currently."

Pekrul said she's seen the powerful effect the student-led ceremony can have on veterans, especially the older ones.

"It's overwhelming. A lot of them feel like they've been forgotten," she said. "For us to honor and recognize them is very special because it's not like it's an outside organization. We're recognizing family members."

At Vista Fundamental School, Principal Denise Vale and PTA board member Tracy Klock helped put together a fundraiser for the troops that started Thursday and concludes this morning.

For the first time at Vista, students and parents can drop off goods before school today for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Klock hopes the troops will receive the packages before Thanksgiving Day.

"We'd like to continue to do it every year. It seems like a nice way to help," Klock said. "We'll see how it goes."

Goods that Klock hopes to collect include granola bars, batteries, baby wipes, travel-size board games, beef jerky, white athletic socks, music CDs and movie DVDs.

Klock also encouraged students to write letters to the troops, or, if there was a package they wanted delivered to a particular soldier, they should forward the mailing information to the school office.

"Veterans Day is an opportunity to show our appreciation to the men and women who serve our country and protect our way of life," she said. "We barely know a war's going on, it seems so far away."

After Sunday's ceremony at Veterans Plaza ends at noon, there will be free hot dogs, hamburgers and soda in the picnic pavilion.

On Sunday morning around 8, Ayala said he will also lead a small Veterans Day ceremony at the Wood Ranch Senior Center apartments on Sunset Hills Boulevard.

With a war going on right now, commemorating all troops past and present is especially important, said Sgt. Larry Payne of the United States Army, an active duty recruiter in Simi Valley.

"It's for the sacrifices people have made in the past," Payne said.