South Lake Tahoe Veterans Day: Because of you......

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was one of the largest crowds ever gathered at the American Legion to celebrate and honor local veterans. Part of that crowd were two 99-year-old veterans and a 2000 STHS graduate who will soon be a commander in the US Navy, veterans of other wars, family, first responders and community members.

"Thanks to all those that have served and who continue to serve today," said SLT Mayor Jason Collin as he addressed those gathered. "Because of you, we are able to exercise the great freedoms we have in this county. Because of you, we are able to choose. Choose where we live, how we live, and with whom we want to live. Because of you, we sleep peacefully at night, knowing that we have the best trained and most dedicated service personnel anywhere in the world. Because of you, because you willingly accepted the known risk of serving in our military, others did not have to assume those risks."

The dozens of people were at the Legion in South Lake Tahoe on the 101st anniversary of the end of World War I. Boy Scouts from Troop 594 handed out flags to all attendees, Davin Kangas and Jill Scharlow sang, bagpiper Maria DeLallo played, and American Legion leaders highlighted the significance of the day, a celebration of the Armistice with Germany marking the end of the war on 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

Also at the Veterans Day ceremony was long time local Martin Hollay who was born in Hungary in 1920. The 99-year-old was actually on the other side in World War II and spent one year in an American prison camp in France. Hollay has been a resident of South Lake Tahoe since 1958. The second 99-year-old at the ceremony was Ed Martinez, father of Bill Martinez of the Family Resource Center. Ed, who will turn 100 on November 24. The elder Martinez joined the Army in 1940 and served six years. He spent time in the Pacific from Australia to Japan and was one of the first to enter Japan after the dropping of the bombs in August 1945.

Martinez won a Bronze Medal in WWII. He said he was not fighting for the medal, but for his country. He was a member of the 158th Infantry Regiment Bushmasters.

South Tahoe High graduate Grant Carter attended with his parents Jerry and Jill. Carter is currently a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and stationed in Yokosuka, Japan and was in South Lake Tahoe visiting family.

The American Legion Women's Auxiliary placed 600 flags on the gravesites of veterans at Happy Homestead Cemetery prior to the beginning of the ceremony. After Monday's ceremony, they were heading over to Barton Skilled Nursing Center where ten veterans currently reside.