In San Quentin, the mood of Veterans Day took a celebratory tone, despite the inclement weather that had relocated the event from the Lower Yard to Chapel B. Around 150 participants enjoyed music, comedy, and a 1986 Clint Eastwood war movie at the event. The celebration’s theme focused on the ever-present message, “Incarcerated, But Not Forgotten.”
“A lot of incarcerated people who have made mistakes have ended up in prison, but the camaraderie that comes from serving your nation never goes away,” said U.S. Army veteran Juan Moreno Haines, 67, who served in the infantry and in the signals corps from 1974 to 1978.
Around the world, November 11 has always attracted its share of events that remember wars and those who fought them. Called Armistice Day in Europe, the day commemorated the end of World War I. For the first time since 1944, a British Prime Minister visited Paris to lay a wreath. At Arlington National Cemetery, President Joe Biden did the same.
U.S. Marine veteran Noah Winchester, 40, a member of the Veterans Group of San Quentin (VGSQ), organized the event at SQRC. The change of venue because of weather came off without a hitch. In his opening speech, Winchester called Veterans Day “a day for all to tell our stories.”
He illustrated the meaning of Veterans Day by recounting a phone call with his sevenyear-old daughter who had asked him about the holiday. Winchester noted he was at a loss for words. After he saw the letters “VGSQ” on his hat, it prompted him to tell his daughter, “Veterans Day is a day in which you honor and celebrate men and women who answered the call to service.”
VGSQ member and U.S. Air Force veteran Ray Melberg, 80, called Winchester “a fine leader who stimulates committee work and holds us all together.”
Winchester soon introduced Matthew Shephard as the master of ceremonies of the event. During the unfurling of the service branch banners— Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard—Shephard described the histories of the branches.
He then engaged in a comedy routine, using military terms in a humorous way, leaving his audience laughing. Several veterans congratulated him afterward.
Veterans Helping Veterans outside volunteer Tina, a professional stage performer who used no last name, said she had sponsored VGSQ for the last 18 months. She also taught acting for Marin Shakespeare for 10 years and established the Acting for Veterans program, which she described as “a program to uplift people who have served and a chance to share their stories.” She called the Veterans Day event an “opportunity for veterans to showcase their talents with amazing music.”
Performers Rick Otto, Ray Torres, and Levere Callender sang “That’s Why I’m Easy.”
Vietnam veteran John Poggi, the outside facilitator for Veterans Healing Veterans, spoke next and noted, “At age 22, the U.S. Army thought it fit to make me a leader of men,” a designation gave him a sense that “we are all brothers.”
Poggi called veterans a “shrinking species.” He said that the headcount had only declined. The VA Population Survey from 2023 confirmed Poggi’s message, which predicted an annual decline of 1.6% over the next 30 years.
A screening of Heartbreak Ridge directed by Clint Eastwood, ended the event. San Quentin resident Larry Whyte, 76, enjoyed the film from a Chair of Honor, a distinction afforded to Whyte for his volunteering for veterans’ events. “I don’t have any money, so I give my time,” said Whyte. Winchester called such selflessness typical of “the values of VGSQ.”
