Honoring prisoners of war (POWs) in World War II on Memorial Day in San Luis Obispo. American Legion Post 66 and the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum teamed up once again to host their annual Memorial Day ceremony.
For the last half-decade, the organizations have jointly put on this ceremony at the confluence of their buildings off Grand Avenue and Mill Street, while Legion Post 66 has been hosting a Memorial Day ceremony for more than 100 years.
Every year, the museum features a special exhibit, while the Legion hosts a tri-tip BBQ luncheon. The special exhibit featured this year was Central Coast POWs in WWII, captured by the Japanese after the Fall of the Philippines. Those POWs were liberated by the Allied Forces in 1945.
With WWII ending nearly 80 years ago, the generation of veterans from the war is hard to come by, but we should never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
“We don't want people to forget what happened," said Bart Topham, Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum President. "We have a lot of folks that just don't know what happened in these different events and the things that occurred to give them the opportunity to have their barbecues and camping trips and things they're doing like this weekend. Well, these people made that possible, and we need to take at least a few minutes to remember that and appreciate it.”
The event featured guest speaker, Rosalie Marquez, President of the Filipino American National Historical Society, Central Coast of California Chapter. She spoke about the service and sacrifice Filipino Americans made during WWII in the Philippines.
