American Legion Post 249 in partnership with the City of Manteca is bringing back the three-day Memorial Day Weekend Commemoration to Woodward Park May 23-25.
The event ran for 15 years through 2022.
Organizers were unable to stage it in 2023 due to losing key organizers and a shortage of volunteers.
Manteca Mayor Gary Singh started the effort to bring it back.
He approached Past American Legion Post 249 Commander Jeff Aksland as well as San Joaquin County Supervisor Sonny Dhaliwal to bring the commemoration back.
The American Legion post foundation will be the non-profit leading the commemoration in a robust partnership with the City of Manteca.
At one-point, various military command personnel who attended the annual event called it “the largest Memorial Day weekend event of its kind west of the Mississippi.”
The event that included the placement of 7,000 plus crosses representing the fallen in the Global War on Terror, static military displays, military fly-bys, honoring Golden Star mothers, a car show, live music entertainment, ceremonies honoring the fallen, fireworks to celebrate those that returned from war, a kids zone, vendors or more drew 20,000 plus people each year.
“It was a vision I (had) last year that we need to bring back and knew it was heavy lift financially and labor.” Singh said.
“Bringing the Memorial Day Commemoration back to Woodward Park is more than a return to a tradition. It is a reaffirmation of our community’s commitment to honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to our nation.”
“This meaningful event is made possible through a strong partnership between the City, County, the American Legion, and countless dedicated community volunteers who come together in remembrance, gratitude, and unity to ensure their sacrifice is not forgotten and make Manteca the most patriotic city west of the Mississippi,” Singh added.
The event was founded by Pastor Mike Dillman.
Over the years he shared there was only one thing he regretted serving as a soldier in Vietnam.
The airliner returning him and other troops from their final tour in Vietnam was approaching Seattle.
A video featuring Richard Nixon was shown. The president thanked the soldiers for their service and then told them to remove their uniforms as quickly as possible as the environment in the United States had changed and it wasn’t friendly toward those returning from the Vietnam War.
“It’s an order that to this day I regret following,” Dillman said in 2010.
It was an era when servicemen wearing uniforms as they passed through airports returning home from war were spat on and had protestors screaming “baby killers” and “murderers” at them.
Years later after the terrorist attack on 9-11 prompted the Global War on Terror Dillman vowed he’d do everything in his power to make sure those who fought for their country returned to the embrace of a grateful nation and not one that treated soldiers as they did during the Vietnam era.
What began as a patriotic musical drama to honor the nation’s fallen heroes and veterans in the local church that Dillman pastored grew into the largest Memorial Weekend events on the West Coast according to military personnel.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
