The Alpine VFW post took a tentative step toward life in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic by opening their doors for Memorial Day this year. The day marked the first event the post has held since social distancing measures were put in place by San Diego county officials back in March.
Although a large sign announced that social distancing rules are still firmly in place, the event was attended by about 50 people, all masked, who stood spread out on the blacktop at the door of the post as Chaplain Theo Bazdorf opened the morning’s ceremonies with a prayer.
Commander Jack Gauthier addressed the small gathering, welcoming everyone and reminding attendees the post is there to support veterans’ families while asking others to do the same.
“The best way to thank them is to honor their fallen, to care for their wounded brothers and sisters, and to safeguard their families. Our men and women who serve are an extraordinarily selfless group. They fight as a team and as a family, and they look out for one another to their last dying breaths. Trust me when I say that there is no better way to thank a veteran than to protect their brethren,” Gauthier said.
The small crowd stood, silent as Gauthier spoke.
“What could possibly be good enough to say that would convey how truly grateful we are that someone like them had the courage to do what so many others could not and would not?”
Following Gauthier’s introduction, Quartermaster Carl Silva asked that the names of fallen service members memorialized in brass plaques on the outside wall of the VFW post be read aloud for all to hear, followed by the names of deceased auxiliary members.
“We’re extremely proud to read the names here today who gave their lives for their country,” Silva said.
With the bell mounted outside the post ceremonially rung after each name on the wall was read, Gauthier and Silva drew attention to the framed photograph of Army Sergeant Joseph Perry who was killed at 23 by a sniper in Iraq. Perry remains a symbol of local loss in the ongoing war on terror and conflict in the middle east.
Gauthier then read from the poem Memorial Day composed by World War one veteran and poet Joyce Kilmer, underscoring the day’s focus on solemnity and reverence, while simultaneously providing a roadmap for decorum among attendees who have not socialized in months and stood outside the post in silence.
He then issued a reminder to attendees planning to stay for lunch that they would need to enter the post, distanced, and proceed directly to spaced-out tables on the outdoor patio.
Bazdorf closed the morning’s ceremony:
“…we ask that you hear our prayer and answer with all that is holy.”
Afterward, attendees quietly lined up at the door or quickly removed themselves to cars, the morning’s service shorter and more solemn than in years’ past, a first step toward reopening the local post.
