During the ceremony to remember Norco's fallen Veterans, Marine LCpl. Kareem Nikoui and Navy SK3 Donald Dee Allinder were added to the memorial wall at the George A Engles Veterans Memorial Plaza.
"Heavenly Father, we do come before you, we thank you for all those who answered the call to serve our great nation," said Pastor Phil Wozniak of Norco's Grace Fellowship Church.
Kareem Nikoui was one of thirteen service members killed during the August attack at Kabul's airport. Donald Dee Allinder died of medical complications caused by exposure to agent orange during the Vietnam war.
State Senator Melissa Melendez, who served ten years with the U.S. Navy, came to pay her respects. "So if today, the memory of someone you served with and lost, as painful as it still may be… if that brings you heartache today, just remember with pride that we celebrate the service of our veterans," said Melendez.
Melendez offered a call to action to all veterans present. She said, "So, the responsibility of preserving the history and sanctity of our veterans falls on us. Those of us who are still among the living are obligated to tell our stories of why we served, of how we served, and under what conditions and circumstances were going on in the world that caused us to want to serve." Our veterans, she said, deserve our respect and our gratitude.
