Earlier this year, the Young Marines sent representatives to Guam and Iwo Jima, as escorts for WWII veterans attending the annual “Reunion of Honor,” in March.
Among the Young Marines, was YM/SgtMaj Megan Lynch, 16, who is the District 6 Young Marine of the Year. District 6 includes six states. She is part of the Southeast County Young Marines, which includes and meets in Seal Beach.
This is the 74th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima and the 75th for Guam. The Island of Iwo Jima is open just one day a year, for the Reunion of Honor. During the event, the Young Marines and their families gathered with veterans on the landing beaches to conduct a memorial service.
The Young Marines also had a chance to visit Mt. Suribachi, site of the famed flag rasing that was captured by photographer Joe Rosenthal and became the model for the Iwo Jima Memorial, located near Arlington National Cemetery. That memorial is also known as the U.S. Marine Corp War Memorial.
Lynch will be in competition for National Young Marine of the Year, which will be announced this month.
Pier Flag
We recently received an email from a Seal Beach resident, who said that during a pre-dawn walk, they had noticed that the flag on the pier was not illuminated during darkness. There is an actual flag code that states, “The flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.”
Otherwise, the code says flags should only be flown between sunrise and sunset. When we received the email, the Sun News reached out to the city to ask that it be checked. According to Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos, public works employees checked the flag at night and found the light to be working.
So, for whatever reason, the resident may have passed by at a time when the light had just gone off, or for some reason, was temporarily not working. But the light seems to be in working order now.
There is debate about whether or not the light should be a spotlight, pointed directly at the flag, but the Flag Code is vague on this point. But as can be seen (somewhat) in the photo (on page 6), there is light around the flag that illuminates it.
Ted Apodaca is the editor of the Sun News and Catalina Islander. He can be reached at editor@sunnews.org, or 562-317-1100.
