Veterans Day Tribute expresses gratitude to service members here in the Morongo Basin

The Town of Yucca Valley hosted the Morongo Basin Veterans Tribute on Wednesday (November 11) on the north side of the Yucca Valley Community Center. 

Held in partnership with the City of Twentynine Palms, the event brought out hundreds of veterans and supporters from across the community. The Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, and the Yucca Valley Youth Council all had a presence at the event, and the Yucca Valley Elks Lodge #2314 served a free lunch just outside of the Community Center Park.

Yucca Valley Mayor Merl Abel spoke about why Veterans Day is so meaningful to the hi-desert.

“It is a time to recognize the courage, dedication, and sacrifice to all those who have served. Morongo Basin has a special connection with the military. For many of us, military service is not only distant or abstract.

It is not. It is right here in our own hometown. It is part of our everyday lives.

We see it in the service members and families who work and live in our communities. In the presence of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, and in the generations of veterans who have chosen to make Morongo Basin their home. That connection makes today especially meaningful.”

Representing the Marine Base in Twentynine Palms, Colonel Consaul explained how the local community was meaningful to young Marines. 

“I first came to California as a young second lieutenant and I lived here, I’ve trained here, I’ve deployed from here. My son went to school here. Like a lot of Marines who have passed through Twentynine Palms over the years, I experienced firsthand what this community is made of.

“The practical support, the genuine welcome, and the quiet understanding of what military life asks our families. My family and I have made this our home on multiple occasions. I live just down the road.

“That personal history is why I’m honored to be able to stand here today and thank our veterans because today we get to honor all veterans. We honor those who served on distant battlefields and those whose service was carried out in less visible but equally essential ways. We honor those who returned home and continued their service to serve their communities as teachers, as first responders, public servants, as mentors, business owners, and volunteers.”

“I want to offer a special word of thanks to the veterans of the Morongo Basin. This community is home to a remarkable number of men and women who have served our country and that fact says something deeply important about this place. It speaks to a deep tradition of service, of sacrifice, and commitment that continues to shape the character of the Morongo Basin.

“To the veterans here today, thank you. Thank you for your service to the nation and thank you for the example you continue to set here at home.”