Davis families gathered on Nov. 11 to recognize the service and sacrifices made by the veterans in their lives
By MATTHEW MCELDOWNEY — city@theaggie.org
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the Davis Cemetery District & Arboretum hosted the city’s annual Veterans Day celebration, featuring performances by the Davis Odd Fellows and Davis high school vocal groups — Davis Local Vocals and Davis Madrigals.
To highlight the greater meaning of this holiday, the ceremony also had speakers reflecting on the personal and broader impact that United States military veterans have made in their lives. Many of those in attendance have loved ones who are serving or have served in the past, so the cemetery was an accommodating space for these individuals to honor family members and friends.
Kate Bowen, a member of the Davis Cemetery Board of Trustees as well as the daughter of a Marine Corps major and sister of a Marine Corps sergeant, shared the personal impact that the military had on her household.
“Veterans Day has special meaning for me,” Bowen said. “Our family would celebrate first on Nov. 10 — which is the Marine Corps birthday — with a nutritious breakfast of S.O.S.”
The Marine Corps dish Bowen refers to traces back to the first World War and was traditionally made with dried meat and a sauce of evaporated milk, butter, broth and flour, served on a slice of toast.
“I’m so happy to have had those experiences as a family, and I am so pleased to see so many families here today,” Bowen said.
During the ceremony, these shared experiences bonded the families in Davis as all had come to commemorate this personal side of their lives. Jessica Smithers, the district superintendent of the Davis Cemetery, organized and set up this year’s Veterans Day ceremony.
“What goes well about this event every year is just the amount of community that comes out and participates,” Smithers said. “So, you’ll notice people start helping us pick up the chairs and pull down the tents — it really is a community-driven event.”
Smithers hopes that this ceremony reminds the community that this holiday is more than a three-day weekend but a day for acknowledging the military.
“Because the military do what they do, we are able to hold events like this,” Smithers said.
For this reason, Smithers and the Davis Cemetery selected veterans who could intimately convey this meaning.
Secretary of Veteran Affairs for the California Department of Veteran Affairs and Director of Veteran Services for Solano County Ted Puntillo helped over 20,000 veterans in his 20 years as a veterans advocate. On this Veterans Day, Puntillo was the master of ceremonies.
Puntillo said that it is honorable to speak for Davis, a city whose rich history, commitment and support for its veterans is dearly felt.
“It is deeply meaningful to be here with all of you as we gather to pay tribute to the brave men and women who served our country with unwavering courage and conviction,” Puntillo said.
Sterling Koliba is a Marine, Air Force and California National Guard veteran, a junior vice commander of the Dixon Veterans of Foreign Wars post and a founding member of the Yolo and Solano County chapter of the Veterans Beer Club. Koliba reaffirmed the sense of community felt by veterans who connected over their shared experiences — he described these personal bonds that he formed during his service.
“At boot camp, we would hydrate each night in preparation for the next day,” Koliba said. “What that meant was taking a 32 oz canteen and drinking it as fast as possible while the drill instructor counted down from 10 to zero […] and if any significant amount of water [was left], we would do it again.”
While Koliba reflected on his rackmate’s capability in other respects, such as disassembling and reassembling their service rifles blindfolded, this rackmate could not finish all that water quickly enough.
“So, every night, to protect the platoon and take that burden off his shoulders, I would finish mine, and we would swap canteens while the drill instructors weren’t paying attention,” Koliba said. “That’s where it begins — in basic training with the canteens [or] the helping hand to help a buddy study for a test the next day.”
From this story, Koliba described how this community starts early but never truly ends. After 10 years of service in the Marine Corps, he was in a position of uncertainty, but it was through veterans resources, such as the Student Veterans of America, that he could rekindle that network and gain the guidance to be the person he is today.
“What I learned then was that the call to serve does not simply leave because we no longer wear the uniform,” Koliba said. “It is for them and all those that have honorably served that we celebrate today. Because Veterans Day is about reminding the people of this great nation that this freedom isn’t free, and [it is important] to remind each other, to acknowledge and to show our support for all those, past and present, who have served this great nation and donned this uniform with the willingness to put themselves in harm’s way to protect others.”
Written by: Matthew Mceldowney — city@theaggie.org
