San Lorenzo High School Classmate Searches

San Lorenzo High School Rebels

Class of 1965
San Lorenzo, CA

10-Feb-2010

A note to Class of 1965 from Ron Ghiselli
Project Advisor SLZH Veteran's Memorial

Below is a couple of notes (combined) I received from Ron Ghiselli regarding the details for the ceremony. I do hope to see you there. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Feel free to forward this email to any SLZH alumni.

"This August we were informed that the San Lorenzo HS Veterans Memorial Program has been awarded the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge's George Washington Honor Medal for Excellence in the schools division. This award is given to the best program in the schools division. The foundation is a non-profit organization which promotes American ideals and values. Its original Chairman was Dwight Eisenhower. Several hundred schools were competition and we won. As you can imagine, everyone connected with the program is excited. We never began this project in order to get awards, just to honor our fallen vets; but national recognition is nice. Thanks to all the support from all of the Class of 1965. You've been a tremendous help!!

Just a short note to let you know that the San Lorenzo Veterans Memorial Program will be receiving their national award on the evening of January 31, 2003. The ceremony will take place at the San Leandro Marina Community Center and is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The Freedoms Foundation (the presenter) will be mailing out the invitations. If any alumni would like to attend please contact the SLZ Veterans Memorial Program at slzdeca@hotmail.com. We'll contact the Foundation. We will need your address and number in your party. We don't know how many are planning to attend. The center holds about 300, so there should be enough room. The earlier we get a count the better we'll know if there'll be enough room. (We don't think we'll have 300 responses, so space shouldn't be a problem. But just in case, please answer as soon as possible).

This year's team members are planning a nice tribute to the veterans. They would also like to meet some of you who knew our veterans. It will a great night for all San Lorenzo HS Rebels, past and present.

Thanks,
Ron Ghiselli"

Brief History of the San Lorenzo High School Veterans Memorial Project

The San Lorenzo High School Veterans Memorial was dedicated on May 31, 2001. You can view the dedication at http://www.geocities.com/slzdeca/memorial.htm

Ron Ghiselli (DECA) stated that space was limited in A Hall so the number of guests invited were limited to some alumni, relatives of the veterans, veterans and school officials.

The memorial is not quite completed. They are still waiting for medals to be sent from the Military Records Center in St. Louis. Eventually there will be a medal for each veteran. You may view the memorial during normal school hours. During the summer modernization work will be done on A Hall.

The project has concluded for this year as all members were seniors.

On behalf of all alumni not just from Class of 1965 I would like to thank Ron Ghiselli and his DECA members for putting this project together. I know it touches each of us who lived through the horrific Vietnam war. Thank you for remembering our friends and family!

In 1998 the DECA Chapter of San Lorenzo High School and the Eden Area Regional Occupation Program began a project honoring those former San Lorenzo High School students who were killed in Vietnam. The article below shows how this project has grown and affected the students who are working on it. Check out the website at http://www.geocities.com/slzdeca

This project has gone beyond any of our expectations. The school has a display in the main hall with photographs of each soldier. They wrote to the military and they are sending them duplicates of the Purple Hearts which were issued to these soldiers families. These metals will also be displayed in the main hall.

Ron Ghiselli suggested if you happen to be in the area during school hours you might want to stop by and talk to the students about our former friends. The students are eager to learn more about what these soldiers lives were like and how it affected our lives too!