Tribute to military heroes kicks off at Hartnell
A memorial set to travel the entire country honoring fallen military made one of its first stops here on the Central Coast.
A special ceremony was held at Hartnell College in Salinas.
The tribute is set to be at Hartnell through Sunday.
It honors those who died while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sacrifices organizers of the memorial want everyone to remember.
It’s thanks to a partnership with Patriotic Productions, that the Central Coast college is one of the first stops for the exhibit that will tour the U.S.
“It’s a great honor first of all for us to host something [of] this magnitude,” said Gemma Uribe – Cruz, a Veterans Services counselor at the college, “I’ve not seen something like this at Hartnell.”
The displays remembers more than 5,000 men and women who died in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
“People who died while wearing their uniform, and there’s also a special set of towers that honors those that have succumbed to injuries of war suicide due to post traumatic stress disorder” Uribe-Cruz said.
Many of them from right here on the Central Coast.
“My nephew who was on his fourth deployment in Afghanistan and was killed in action,” said Tony Virrueta.
Virrueta, a Veteran himself, represented Central Coast Gold star families.
Though his nephew Edward Balli, or Eddie, stays close to his heart…he says others like him deserve to be remembered too.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Virrueta said, “It’s about all of them, not just an individual.”
“I want people to be able to see that we have a lot of freedoms but there was a sacrifice that comes with those freedoms and this puts the face to that sacrifice,” Uribe-Cruz said.
Tony says honoring those men and women doesn’t stop after the week is through and the exhibit moves to its next destination.
“We never forget, whether it’s today, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, we’re always talking about it,” Virrueta said, “About these actions of heroism, especially those alive right now that are currently deployed and in the fight right now.”
Again, the exhibit will stay at Hartnell through Sunday.
For more information on hours and how to add someone the exhibit might be missing click here.
