Charlie Saulinas, Vietnam War Veteran, reading the 146 Names on the Wall in 2020 Remembering Those Who Served and Gave Their Lives.
Normally, that means before COVID crept into our lives, on Memorial Day, the Torrance Historical Society conducts a memorial service for Torrance service personnel who gave their lives in U.S. military actions. The program takes place on the Memorial Plaza at the corner of Torrance Blvd. and Maple Ave., and includes the reading of the 146 Names on the Wall. Those Names include war losses from World War I to those in the Iraq and Afghanistan War.
However, in an abundance of caution, the Torrance Historical Society, adhering to the social distancing rules in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, gathered at the Memorial Wall without an audience for a reading of the names, May 20, 2020. There was one reader, not seven – Charlie Saulinas, a Vietnam Veteran. Michelle Polcari, President, welcomed the virtual crowd, and Jerry Ronan, Coordinator of the event, lead the Flag Salute. It was simple. It was poignant. It was tradition.
On Monday, we will be grateful for the gift of those who never came home. We will remember — every day is Memorial Day. ” We will pray that we may never add another name to that cold, black wall,” noted Jerry Ronan, Torrance Historical Society Board Member and WWll Veteran.
CitiCABLE will air the Reading on Memorial Day , Monday, May 25, 2020 at 7:00 AM, 4:30 PM, and 7:30 PM PST. It will also be posted on their YouTube channel.