The community staple in Manteca on Memorial Day weekend was gone during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Army veteran and American Legion Post 249 Foundation board chairman Jeffrey Aksland was born and raised in Manteca. He and a group of around 500 volunteers linked arms to bring their community staple event back after it used to be led by a church group and Vietnam veteran, Pastor Mike Dillman, who then retired.
One of the community projects started up by Pastor Dillman was a memorial cross display. This year, Aksland said volunteers placed 845 crosses, signifying the 764 Californians who died in the war on terror, with red poppies honoring the 66 from Manteca with 21 blue poppies honoring women who died in combat. In the middle, contractor Mike DeGroot built a replica of the Argonne cross in Arlington, while another contractor, Dave Uecker, built a flag stand for the three flags waving above the crosses.
"It means so much because nobody's forgotten if we're remembering them," Aksland said. "You can't be forgotten if people remember you. I didn't know them, but I'm not forgetting them and neither will anybody else when we're doing this."
"What an honor it is to be a part of this history and to know that I'm able to be part of this community that we gave everything and this weekend is for those that gave everything," Lackey said. "We're going to be honoring our Gold Star families tomorrow morning with a breakfast.
On Memorial Day morning, there will be a sunrise prayer service at 6 a.m., a plane flyover, a color guard presenting the national flag, a U.S. Army band performance, and calling out the names of fallen heroes.
Manteca Mayor Gary Singh said between 20,000 and 30,000 people showed up after a year of planning to bring this back to their city, as they don't want to forget what Memorial Day is all about.
"I have a special heart for a lot of our veterans," Mayor Singh said. "We are a patriotic city and it was very important for us to make sure that we don't forget, not just our soldiers and veterans, but also those that unfortunately, have lost their lives for us."
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