Santa Cruz Honors City Employees Who Are Veterans

Over 30 veterans who work for the City of Santa Cruz were honored Thursday afternoon outside of the City Hall, on the first Veterans Appreciation Day. Mayor Ryan Coonerty declared November 9th an official day to remember the city's veterans.

"I just thought it was a long time overdue," said Coonerty. "We knew we had some veterans who worked for us, and it turns out we have a tremendous number of them.”

The ceremony began promptly at noon in the sunny courtyard outside of the Santa Cruz City Hall. The Santa Cruz Police Department Honor Guard, and the Marine Corps Color Guard of the Presidio of Monterey made presentations of the service flags, passing them off to veterans, and Mayor Coonerty gave a speech in which he thanked all who are serving and have served in the armed forces.

“I am deeply honored and humbled on this Veteran’s Day, to thank you. To thank you on behalf of myself, the 58,000 residents of the city of Santa Cruz, the entire City Council, thanks you for your service,” said Coonerty.

After the ceremony, veterans talked to Patch about the honor. 

“It means a lot. It’s the only day that I generally talk to the guys in my old units. I have so much respect for the guys that came before me and the guys that came after me,” said Officer Josh Trog, who was an Army Specialist for several years before he became a sergeant for the Santa Cruz Police Department.

Officer Chris Vigil also presently works for the SCPD, after serving in the Army for four years of active service, which included two tours in Iraq.

“For me, my family has a history of being in the army. My Grandfather was in WWII and my dad was in Vietnam. I went to Iraq twice. It’s a day I get to pay my respects to my family for their service and all the service of the past and present,” Vigil said. 

Another familiar face present at the ceremony was Vietnam veteran Micheal Tomasi, who was deeply moved by the ceremony.

“They called me a baby killer, they called me a hypocrite, and they told me I was no good. Today was the first day that anybody honored me in all of California. It feels fantastic,” said Tomasi, who remembers being pelted with tomatos getting off the bus in 1968, returning home from the war.

Santa Cruz Police Chief, Kevin Vogel said he thought it was “a really touching ceremony and a nice way to show our appreciation to our fellow city employees who have served. We hope to continue this tradition.” 

Members of the Santa Cruz Fire Department also came out to show their support, as well as a few dozen members of the community. 

“I think a lot of us sit next to somebody who has served and don’t even know it,” said Zach Friend of the Santa Cruz Police Department.

Veteran's Day is Friday, November 11th. Patch will print your salutes to veterans. Send them to Brad.Kava@patch.com.  You can also upload photos paying tribute to veterans by hitting Add on this story.

See the entire ceremony in the video at the right.

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