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Los Angeles celebrates Memorial Day with parades and observances throughout the city.
More than 5,000 people are expected to honor fallen soldiers at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, according to City News service.
The event is billed as the largest annual Memorial Day observance in the Southland. The two-hour program begins at 10 a.m. and will feature aerial fly-overs, including a C-17 Globemaster transport, skydivers displaying American flags, a parade from all branches of the armed forces, musical performances, a 21-gun salute and the release of 100 doves. The keynote speaker will be Navy Lt. Michael Thornton who received the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War.
Other Memorial Day events throughout Los Angeles County, according to the report, include the annual Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills celebration, which begins at 10 a.m. Councilman Tom LaBonge will deliver the keynote address, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilwoman Jan Perry will read a presidential proclamation and Controller Wendy Greuel will participate in a wreath-laying presentation.
The Canoga Park Memorial Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. at Owenmouth Avenue and Sherman Way. The parade, themed "All Gave Some, Some Gave All," will feature military marching units, bands, floats and classic cars. The grad marshal is 91-year-old World War ii veteran Constantine Salvalas.
Lakewood's annual Memorial Day Ceremony at Del Valle Park begins at 11 a.m. and will include a reading of the poem "The Boys of Del Valle Park,'" a tribute to the children who grew up in Lakewood in the 1950s and then served in the Vietnam War.
Tonight, the Dodgers will honor the military during ceremonies before their 5:10 p.m. game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium. Marine Corps Sgt. Michael Mejia will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. He served two deployments in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and has returned to full duty as a platoon sergeant after stepping on an improvised explosive device in combat operations and spending seven months in a hospital.
