Her first profile featured the late Tony Vasquez - a WWII veteran who had been a POW - and was published in the Ventura County Star on Memorial Day 2001. As an undergraduate at California Lutheran University, Jannette completed a more extensive and detailed profile of Tony’s war experiences.She also continued writing profiles focusing on local veterans for the Memorial Day and Veterans Day editions of the Santa Paula Times and the Star. In 2005 she created an insert for the Santa Paula Times that paid tribute to area WWII veterans to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the war’s end. Jannette’s veterans’ columns have been published bi-weekly by the Star since Memorial Day 2006.Her passion for paying tribute to veterans continued when she traveled to France in 2007 as part of an independent film documentary group made up of WWII veterans from throughout the United States. They retraced the route taken by Allied forces from the beaches of Normandy to the German border. Jeannette did on-camera interviews of veterans and French citizens who witnessed the invasion and the later liberation of their home country.Now attending Northwestern University working toward her master’s degree, Jannette documented veterans’ stories and also completed research focusing on post-traumatic stress disorder. She recently began working with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the Library of Congress to document veterans’ stories from throughout Southern California, work that demonstrates Jannette’s continued dedication to preserving the stories of veterans and paying tribute to their service and sacrifice.Following Jannette’s presentation, the Placing of the Wreaths will be conducted followed by the release of Jerry Garcia’s “Heavenly Doves.” Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043 and the Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 56 combined Rifle Squad will salute departed comrades, and Rudy Arellano, will play “Taps” to conclude the ceremony.
Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043: Jauregui featured Memorial Day speaker
May 20, 2009
Santa Paula News
The observance of Memorial Day is a community tradition, and Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043 is inviting the whole community to share in remembering lost loved ones on Monday, May 25 at Pierce Brothers Santa Paula Cemetery.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesThe observance of Memorial Day is a community tradition, and Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043 is inviting the whole community to share in remembering lost loved ones on Monday, May 25 at Pierce Brothers Santa Paula Cemetery. The Memorial Day Observance will be held at 10:30 a.m. and feature an address by acclaimed writer Jannette Jauregui, who specializes in profiles of military veterans.The cemetery will be decorated with hundreds of American flags for the observance, held at the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Monument. Participating in the program with the VFW are the Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 56, Channel Islands Chapter American Ex-POWs, Vietnam Veterans Ventura County, DAR Golden West Chapter, Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge 314, Optimist Club of Santa Paula, Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge 2097 and the Rotary Club of Santa Paula.The Isbell Middle School Band, with Scott Knef conducting, will offer a musical prelude. VFW Post Commander Gerald V. Olivas will welcome the crowd before the singing of the National Anthem accompanied by the Isbell Band. Pastor Ron Dybvig of the St. Paul’s Episcopal/Emmanuel Lutheran Church will offer the invocation.Jauregui is considered the veterans historian of Ventura County, and she has been writing profiles of local veterans for more than eight years. Her journey compiling the firsthand experiences of veterans started when she was 19 years old, and she started by focusing on those who served from her hometown of Santa Paula.
