Their names live on

Michael Miller

The 37 names listed on the inside of Newport Harbor High School’s

Memorial Day program included no biographical information. A single

phrase at the top summarized them all: “Names of the NHHS alumni who

sacrificed their lives on behalf of a grateful nation.”

But the 38th name at the bottom of the page had a deeper resonance

with most of the people present. Jose “Angel” Garibay, a 2000

graduate of Newport Harbor, was the first Orange County serviceman to

die in combat in Iraq. A former football star at the school, Garibay

was killed near Nasiriyah on March 23, 2003, just hours after the war

began.

“Angel felt sad that there was going to be war,” Garibay’s mother

Simona said at the lunchtime ceremony on campus Friday. “He felt sad

he had to leave. But he was reflecting on the [twin] towers, and that

drove him to be part of the mission in Iraq.”

Even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Garibay had dreamed of

serving his country, enlisting in the Marine Corps right after

graduation. On Friday, his alma mater honored his sacrifice by

dedicating a bench to him on the front lawn of the school, next to

the flagpole and the plaque that names Newport Harbor’s other fallen

alumni.

The ceremony, hosted by Newport Harbor’s Student Political Action

Committee, paid tribute to veterans of all of America’s wars from the

last century -- and even the century before. George Key, the

great-great-grandson of “Star Spangled Banner” author Francis Scott

Key, delivered the invocation and read his ancestor’s famous poem,

which was later adapted to music as the national anthem.

In his speech, Key told the story of the writing of “The Star

Spangled Banner,” which the author composed in 1814 after watching

the British army attack Baltimore.

“He stood out there as a prisoner of the British as they did

that,” Key said. “They thought they could take Baltimore and make it

part of the new British empire. If they had succeeded, we might have

been voting for Tony Blair last month.”

The half-hour program also featured addresses from World War II

veterans, a raising of the flag and a 21-gun salute by American

Legion Post 291. The flag-raising commemorated the 75th anniversary

of the school, which opened in 1930. A cement base was added to the

pole after World War II, with the plaque dedicated in May 2001.

“It is these scars that bind our generations together -- that

remind us that, even in the best of times, we can lose the best of

people,” Blaise Brunda, Action Committee president, said in his

opening remarks.

Toward the end of the ceremony, the school unveiled the memorial

bench for Garibay, the only Newport Harbor graduate to die in the war

on terrorism. The white stone bench features a small plaque in the

center, listing Garibay’s name and the date and place of his death.

Phil D’Agostino, Action Committee advisor, said the school planned

to add three other benches to the flagpole area to honor future

veterans from Newport Harbor. The Garibay bench will sit temporarily

in the campus quad while the school finishes construction on an

outdoor plaza.

Since Garibay’s death two years ago, the community has honored him

in numerous ways. The Mexican immigrant was awarded posthumous

American citizenship and made an honorary Costa Mesa police officer

in spring 2003, and the Orange County Hispanic Educational Endowment

Fund created a scholarship in his honor shortly afterward.

At the Friday ceremony, Simona Garibay attended along with

Cuauhtlicoyotl Madrigal, a former Marine and military liaison

officer. Madrigal, who serves as a personal assistant to Simona

Garibay, led a fundraising drive for the Garibay family in 2003 to

pay for their trip to a memorial service in North Carolina.

Observing Jose Garibay’s memorial bench on the school lawn,

Madrigal reflected on the last two years.

“He was the first Orange County Marine to be killed in Iraq, so

his funeral was presidential in terms of size and the honors he

received,” Madrigal said. “But two years later, here we are.

Everything sets like the sun.”

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].