05/24/2026
It’s Memorial weekend and it’s time to reflect on those that gave all to our country and the military. Please read the entire message to hear about a real veteran's point of view of Memorial Day. Here at your Camarillo Grocery outlet as an owner that was raised in a military family, we support our Military, Veterans, and Respect those MIA and KIA. This is why we are devoted to feed those military families and veterans in need of food, coming up in July we will be focused on IFH (independence from Hunger campaign) we have been able to give thousands of dollars worth of food a month to feed military families in need since we have been here in Camarillo but in July we are hoping to raise over $10,000 for Charities that will feed those in need, we are looking for corporate donors that we will publish their donations in the store and Social Media if Interested please come in and talk to Veronica or Larry the Owners, for those that donate $250 or more will be published and we can do a public communication of companies that will match up to a certain dollar amount. In our last store we were able to raise $17,000 in July to feed Veterans during the holidays, Last year the previous owners of Camarillo grocery outlet raised about $2,000 for their charity and I expect to at least do 5 times that with your help from the community, so please stay tune for our IFH in July, as a customer if you donate $5 I will give you back a $5 off coupon for a purchase of $25 or more so it will be like donating for free. Next Here is a Story of a person I respect very much my father who served during the Vietnam war era. He joined when he was 17 years old from Lincoln Nebraska from their corn farm, he spent over 20 years enlisted as Sargent in the Green Berates, Then spent his remaining years working for the government as National Emergency Manager for the Corp of engineers, which during the 80”s he educated companies and other government agencies how to be ready for a Nuclear war and what the main use of a Fallout shelters was for. In the late 80’s after the Whitter Earth quick we moved from Seattle Washington to Los Angeles Where his main focus was Earthquake preparedness. After he retired, he devoted his life to help Veterans, He was the Head of the Fernley Nevada Honor Guard as pictured where they would provide funereal services for those Veterans that passed away. He also created a Motorcycle Chapter called Ghost Riders who helped Veteran Families, they would also lay Wreaths on all the Grave sites during Memorial Day. The following is a Transcript he wrote that was published in newspapers and would help others remember the sacrifice our Veterans have gone through. One note that my father had to live with is he was transferred back to the states during the Vietnam war and a week after his entire Platoon was killed, so if he was there one week longer, He would not have survived from the War. Richard Passed away a couple years ago from Covid Complications at the age of 87. The following is his note:
THE WALL
A little history most people will never know.
Interesting Veterans statistics of the Vietnam Memorial wall.
There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010
The Names are arranged in the order in which there were taken from us by date and within each date the names alphabetically.
The First known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbons, of North Wymouth, Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl, Richard B. Fitzgibbon !!!, who was killed on Sept. 7 1965
There are three sets of fathers and sons on the wall.
39,996 on the wall were just 22 or younger. 8283 were just 19 years old.
The largest age group, 33103 were 18 years old.
12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.
One Soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15years old
997 Soldiers were killed on their First day in Vietnam.
1448 Soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam
31 sets of brothers are on the wall. 31 sets of parents lost two of their sons.
54 Soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. I wonder why so many from one school.
244 Soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam war: 153 of them are on the wall.
Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.
West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the wall.
The Marines of Morenci- They had some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball team that the little Arizona copper town of Morencia (Pop 5058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci’s mining families, the nine graduates of Marenci high enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day 1966. Only 3 returned home.
The Buddies of Midvale – LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on there consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenue. They Lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22 the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec.7, Pearl Habor Remembrance Day.
The most Casualty deaths for a single day was on Jan. 31, 1968 with 245 deaths.
The most Casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 with 2415 deaths.
For most Americans who read this they will only see the Numbers that the Vietnam war created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we are the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and Daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.
Written by Richard L Cook
Grocery Outlet Camarillo
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