Riverside National Cemetery
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
National Cemetery Administration

For more information:                                                     
For immediate release: October 24, 2010
Jim Ruester, Public Affairs Officer
(951) 214-4353
(951) 830-6823

Riverside National Cemetery Commemorates Veterans Day

RIVERSIDE, CA – For the 33rd year, Riverside National Cemetery will be the site of a ceremony to commemorate Veterans Day and to honor the service and sacrifice of military Veterans. 
            The program will begin at 11 a.m., November 11, in keeping with the tradition begun when the armistice was signed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, ending conflict in WWI.
            National Cemetery Administration Deputy Under-Secretary Glenn Powers will deliver the welcome address on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.
            U.S. Navy Nurse LCDR Cynthia Anderson will be the keynote speaker.    
The program will include military honors performed by members of the Riverside National Cemetery Memorial Honor Detail, which is presenting this year’s program for the third time.
            The Riverside Concert Band and the vocal group The Real Truth will perform patriotic music.  The program will include flyovers of current and vintage military aircraft.
            At the same time, the Order of Daedalians, Thirtieth Flight will observe its annual Veterans Day service at the cemetery’s flag pole plaza.  The Daedalians is the order of military pilots.
            The Riverside National Cemetery Memorial Honor Detail is comprised of nearly 500 volunteers from veteran service organizations, former military members and high school Reserve Officer Training Corps programs.  The MHD is organized into more than 40 teams that provide military honors for veteran committal services and special events at Riverside National Cemetery.
            Veterans Day also marks the anniversary of Riverside National Cemetery, which opened Nov. 11, 1978 with a dedication ceremony and the re-interment of Riverside native and Medal of Honor recipient Ysmael Villegas.  Since that first burial, 200,000 veterans and their family members have been interred.  RNC is the third largest of the 131 national cemeteries and the busiest, averaging 35 services a day, Monday through Friday.