Residents are invited to Cathedral City’s annual Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, at 10 a.m. at Desert Memorial Park, located at 31-705 Da Vall Dr, Cathedral City, CA 92234. This ceremony is being sponsored by American Veterans (AMVETS) Post 6b and the Jon Castro Chapter of Veterans for Peace (VFP). The event is free and open to the public.
Vito D. Imbasciani PhD MD, the Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CDVA), will be speaking at the event. Imbasciani is the highest-ranking veteran leader in the state and a member of the Governor’s cabinet. He was first appointed by Governor Jerry Brown and was reappointed as the Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 22, 2020. We are pleased that he has chosen to speak at the annual Veterans Day ceremony at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City.
Other speakers for the event include Palm Springs Mayor Lisa Middleton, Cathedral City Mayor Pro Tem Rita Lamb, and Rancho Mirage City Council Member Iris Smotrich. Rabbi David Lazar will give the invocation.
In the past three years we have lost the remaining Pearl Harbor Survivors and Tuskegee Airmen that lived in the Coachella Valley. The region has also lost other World War II veterans. An award plaque will be presented to one of the last living World War II veterans, Dorothee Irwin. Irwin, 100, of Palm Springs is one of the first women Marines to serve during the war at Camp Pendleton, California. She rose to the rank of Corporal and served between 1943 – 1945.
Brenda Vosbein will read a special letter from President Joe Biden during the event. The Cathedral City High School JROTC will present colors and Steve Petersen will provide music. There will also be a bugler to play taps and the ceremony will conclude with a memorial flower wreath to honor the fallen.
