SAL National Commander Navarreté laid a wreath at the Vietnam Wall as part of Memorial Day remembrances.
While his visit to the Vietnam Wall on Memorial Day wasn’t the first time SAL National Commander Joseph Navarreté has been there during his term as commander, he admitted this time it “hit a little closer to home.”
“I have an uncle (Frank Montoya, his mother’s brother) that was in the Vietnam War; he did not experience a very good time coming back,” Navarreté said.
Navarreté’s father-in-law also served in Vietnam. “We were up here in February for the Washington Conference, and my wife and I were able to get a rubbing of his friend’s name, because my father-in-law hasn’t been up here,” Navarreté said. “And we were able do a rubbing and we got that sent home to him, he was very thankful for that.”
Part of Navarreté’s theme as commander has been “Honoring Our Heritage,” a sentiment that takes on even deeper meaning on Memorial Day.
It’s about “ensuring that we never forget the sacrifices that these people have made for us. Some of them are a lot closer than we know; my uncle, my father-in-law, and many, many others, and we can never forget what they’ve done.
“It means so much to us, so this one, it hit a little closer, it was a bit more emotional, because it had that tie,” said Navarreté, who laid a wreath at the Vietnam Wall on Memorial Day.
SAL National Vice Commander Robert Manzo also participated in wreath-laying ceremonies on Memorial Day in Washington, D.C., joining American Legion National Vice Commander Charles “Chuck” Robbins and American Legion Auxiliary National President Trish Ward in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
- Honor & Remembrance