Former California Gov. Pete Wilson will be keynote speaker and a Medal of Honor recipient will be feted for his service in Vietnam at a Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 11, at Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial in La Jolla from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Wilson, a former U.S. Marine and San Diego ex-mayor, is scheduled to speak following a plaque presentation to former Marine Col. Jay Vargas, who received the Medal of Honor for his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” during the Vietnam conflict. Vargas, a Winslow, Ariz. native, distinguished himself during the Battle of Dai Do in May of 1968, when he and his 45-man company fought a North Vietnamese army division. Vargas, then a major, carried a wounded lieutenant colonel to safety, sustaining a leg wound in the process. Eighty-one Americans were killed in the battle amid fierce fighting, but the soldiers had prevented the North Vietnamese from attacking a nearby combat base. For his actions, Vargas was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Nixon in a May 1970 ceremony at the White House. After almost thirty years of service, Vargas, 77, retired from the Marine Corps in 1992 as a colonel.
The memorial is located at 6905 La Jolla Scenic Drive For more information, contact (858) 459-2314 or see soledadmemorial.com.