Honor the fallen at Pier Plaza

Huntington Beach veterans’ groups are gearing up to honor their fallen comrades Monday at the city’s annual Memorial Day celebration, coordinated by the American Legion.

This year the main speaker will be Lt. Col. Benjamin Watson, commander of the Third Battalion, First Marines — Huntington Beach’s adopted battalion of Marines.

As with every year, elected officials will give speeches, bagpipes will play, there will be a rifle salute and the Huntington Beach High School band will play, said Dennis Bauer, who is coordinating the ceremony for the American Legion. If it isn’t busy fighting crime, a helicopter from the Huntington Beach Police Department will make a flyover.

Bauer, a Vietnam vet, said he thought Americans didn’t always pay enough attention to honoring service members.

“One thing you try to do is to keep up these ceremonies that are veteran-related, so that people don’t forget,” he said.

The Legion works hard to draw the public to the solemn observances, Bauer said. That’s why ceremonies are held in Pier Plaza, where they even draw the attention of bystanders, he said.

“Everyone wants to do it this way to expose more people to it,” he said. “When they start the National Anthem, even the volleyball players out there stop and turn to the flag out of respect. It just makes you feel good.”

The city’s official Memorial Day ceremony, held together with the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Jewish War Veterans, is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Huntington Beach Pier Plaza.