Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043 Memorial Day observance to feature C. Russell King

May 24, 2002
Santa Paula News

Santa Paulans are marking their calendars to be sure to attend the Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043 annual Memorial Day services to be held Monday, May 27th at 10:30 a.m. at Santa Paula Cemetery, where the featured speaker will be a former naval officer who served both at sea and in the air.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesSanta Paulans are marking their calendars to be sure to attend the Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043 annual Memorial Day services to be held Monday, May 27th at 10:30 a.m. at Santa Paula Cemetery, where the featured speaker will be a former naval officer who served both at sea and in the air.C. Russell King will speak of his experiences following his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943, and served two years as a gunnery officer aboard the heavy cruiser, USS Augusta, flagship in the invasion of Normandy and Southern France. King, after flight training in NAS Dallas, Texas, was designated a naval aviator in 1946 and was based in Port Lyautey, French Morocco from 1947 to 1949. King flew PB4Y2s along the rim of the Iron Curtain, as far east as Teheran, and all Scandinavian countries to locate Soviet surface-to-air radar stations. From 1949 to 1952, King taught navigation at NROTC University of Michigan, was stationed with the Commander Fleet Air Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, a NATO command in Naples, Italy. King, as Lieutenant, resigned from the Navy in 1953 to pursue a career in law, continuing his practice out of his Santa Paula office.This year’s observance at Santa Paula Cemetery will feature the Isbell Middle School Band with Lou Lingo conducting patriotic songs, and Alfred Osuna, Mercer-Prieto VFW Post Commander will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Al Guilin, Deacon of St. Sebastian, will lead the Invocation.The traditional Placing of the Wreaths, marking the sacrifices of those who lost their lives over generations of war, will take place before the Benediction by Jose Vindel of El Buen Pastor United Methodist Church.
The Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043 Rifle Squad, the only such unit in Ventura County, will present the rifle salute to departed comrades and bugler Sammy Solace will play the poignant “Taps” to close the program.Commander Osuna said he and other VFW members believe the Memorial Day Service will be a “great day with Mr. King, an exceptional speaker. . .all of us are excited and expecting a lot of people. And, it’s always wonderful that Mr. Lingo and the Isbell Band are willing to play for this event,” which is a holiday.“Our post is the most active in Ventura County,” supplying the Honor Guards and Rifle Squad for many veteran funerals, added Commander Osuna.Mercer-Prieto VFW Post 2043 has staged the Memorial Day program for many years; the observance each years draws hundreds of people to Santa Paula Cemetery, which is decorated with American flags for the short patriotic ceremony.



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