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Late Sen. John McCain, Vietnam veterans honored at ceremony in Orange

by in News

U.S Rep. Lou Correa paid tribute Wednesday, Aug. 29, at Orange Plaza Park to Arizona Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday, and other military veterans who served in Vietnam.

McCain was a Navy pilot who was held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi for five years after his plane was shot down in 1967.

  • Congressman Lou Correa thanks veteran Robert “Buck” Rogers 90, of Tustin after an event to honor local Vets at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, August 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Veteran Robert “Buck” Rogers, 90, of Tustin, smiles as he gets a hug from Peggy Kane as the Orange High Choir sings the Marine Corps anthem before Sen. John McCain was remembered at an event to award service pins to local Vietnam vets and their families at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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  • Desert Storm vet and American Legion Post 132 Commander Jose Martinez, 60, of Santa Ana, signs a poster in memory of Sen. John McCain at an event to award service pins to local Vietnam vets and their families at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Organizer Mark Wayland welcomes Sgt. Tifani Hightower, 33, of Tustin, during a ceremony honoring veterans at Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Veteran Ron Doyle, 81, of Lake Elsinore, salutes during the National Anthem as a poster in memory of Sen. John McCain awaits more signatures at an event to award service pins to local Vietnam vets and their families at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Congressman Lou Correa helps veterans fold the American flag during an event to award service pins to local Vietnam vets and their families as well as remember Sen. John McCain at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Veteran and pastor Frank Orzio places a pin on a poster of Sen. John McCain at an event to award service pins to local Vietnam vets and their families at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Marine Corps veteran Bob Adams, 71, of Yorba Linda stands with his dog as the “Marines’ Hymn” is sang by the Orange High Choir before an event to award service pins to honor local Vets at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, August 29, 2018. The late Sen. John McCain was also remembered at the event. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Veterans salute the flag, at half mast in honor of Sen. John McCain, during an event to honor local Vets aat Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • A resident looks as a poster signed by local veterans in honor of Sen. John McCain at an event to honor local Vets and their families at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Veterans pose for a group photo after an event to honor local Vets and their families at Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Veterans including Ron Doyle, 81, of Lake Elsinore, center, salute during the National Anthem during an event to honor local Vets and their families at Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Congressman Lou Correa speaks to the crowd in memory of the late Sen. John McCain during event to honor local Vets at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

  • Organizer Mark Wayland is given a gift by Congressman Lou Correa during an event to honor local Vets at Orange Plaza Square Park in Orange on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Correa’s remarks came during a weekly flag ceremony held in the park for veterans, some of whom received pins thanking them for their service. There was a large poster of McCain that could be signed; Correa’s office said it would be presented to the McCain family.

Vietnam veteran Mark Wayland, who lives in Orange, led the ceremony for vets and the families of veterans who have died. Before the event, he said he planned to give a eulogy for a close friend who died in the war 50 years ago this week.

The flag and pin ceremonies are really for all service members past and present, not just veterans of Vietnam, Wayland said.

“We’ve got men and women in harm’s way and we are honoring them,” he said, adding, “The way we feel down there is that nobody’s truly dead, nobody’s truly gone until we forget them.”