I attended the Memorial Day Ceremony at City Hall.
When the Mayor mentioned veterans from various wars, he neglected to mention WWII. Well, I happened to be sitting next to my friend, “Phil”, who is a WWII Veteran.
I am a Senior, who fought in Vietnam, and I was expecting him to be acknowledged.
However, the Mayor was more interested in his political mentors, who made an appearance, and other “dignitaries”.
I’m old, but “Phil” was a young sailor on the USS Missouri, on a gun turret, watching General Douglas MacArthur sign the Japanese surrender treaty in Tokyo Bay in 1945. I was still in diapers.
On Veterans Day, 2018, (the Mayor was not in attendance), the then Vice Mayor asked for any WWII veterans to stand, and “Phil” was the only one in attendance. Of course, he received an ovation.
During this year’s Memorial Day Ceremony, I was sitting next to “Phil” and because he has a gimpy knee, I had to help him stand during the parts of the Ceremony where we all stood. This was tough, since he is a big guy (not fat, tall and muscular, who still lifts weights) but he is my Brother.
The Mayor started his speech by saying that he screwed up the previous year’s ceremony, and didn’t want to do it again.
Well, he did, Big Time.
Now “Phil” is well-known in Milpitas, so this omission is inexcusable.
Jim Arthur
USN
