History
of Heroes started in 2006 as a
fundraiser for the Kern Veterans
Memorial Foundation, inc. to build a
memorial to honor all Kern County
Veterans. Event organizer and Kern
Veterans Memorial Foundation board
member, Karen Norton, wanted to
combine the need to raise $1,300,000
for the memorial with the desire to
honor veterans and educate the
students and public about their
sacrifice.
The
event began with the idea of having
a picnic with Civil War Re-enactors
as Mike Norton, the husband of Karen
Norton participates in Civil War
battles at Ft Tejon as well as other
events around the state. Pretty
soon, the idea of adding the model
of the USS Arizona from the movie
Tora, Tora, Tora came about when
Wayne Gant, Larry Allen and Cal
Emerson from the Fleet reserve
joined the group.
Traveling up and down the state led
to the discovery of a similar event,
Marching Through History sponsored
by AmVets. Vice Commander, Jeff
Sharp offered to lend some help and
soon, there was a trench full of WWI
soldiers fighting in the European
theater (also known as the mud
volleyball arena) From Old Ft
Macarthur, Lou Lopez arrived with
his Spanish American War rough
riders. Next came the Buffalo
Soldiers, the Mexican American War
and the Ft Tejon Dragoons.
By
the time it was launched, History of
Heroes had living historians and
re-enactors from every war starting
with the American Revolution through
Vietnam. In addition to the civilian
and military historians there is a
representation of USO type shows
featuring the 1940's Big Band,
1950's rock and roll, and 1960's
Beach and Motown sounds as well as a
Civil War dance with dance caller
Ginger Alberti.
Some
attendees who came wanted to join in
and dress the part and they were
able to buy clothes from the period
Sutlers, vendors who sell uniforms
as well as hoop skirts and ball
gowns.
The
event was kicked off with a
pass-in-review parade that started
with Fifes and Drums and phased in
real heroes as the timeline turned
to WWII. The Vietnam veterans
arrived in the parade on their
Harley Davidson's on the way to
Washington DC and Rolling Thunder.
The grand marshal of the parade 2006
was baby Ramon Villatoro III, 7
months old in honor of his daddy,
Ramon Villatoro II, who died in Iraq
just shortly before his son was
born.
For
2007 History of Heroes is all set to
make you cry and laugh, and mostly
be proud to be an American where we
have a history of over 200 years of
brave young men and women who rise
to the occasion of serving a cause
greater than themselves. Come join
us and celebrate the liberty that
only the United States of America
enjoys because of the sacrifice of
heroes.
