Honoring the Fallen: A Memorial Day Journey Through Napa Valley
By Tim Carl
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — Early on the Saturday before Memorial Day, Yountville’s Veterans Home Cemetery was largely quiet — except for the steady shuffle of boots, sneakers and the occasional giggle of children placing American flags by headstones.
It wasn’t a formal ceremony — no amplified speeches, no processions, no stage. Just a handful of families, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, a high school football team and veterans quietly walking the rows, pausing at each grave to press a small flag into the soil.
“It’s extremely humbling,” said Laura Sanderlin of Napa, whose daughter, Harper, is a Girl Scout. “Everyone says it’s a special event, but when you come out here is when you feel it. You look at the rolling hills, at the flags waving in the wind — and you realize we live in a beautiful country and we have beautiful people who’ve sacrificed to make it this way.”
Sanderlin was one of many parents who brought their children to help. Although her husband is in law enforcement, she has no direct ties to the military, but said the event offered something bigger than a history lesson.
“They know it’s something very important,” she said. “They — we — feel honored to come and offer respect.”
That quiet sense of purpose is what drew Gerardo Sanchez, a Marine veteran who grew up in Calistoga, to take part for the first time. He came at the invitation of his younger brother, a player on the state champion American Canyon High School football team — several of whom showed up together that morning.
“Why not wake up early and do something positive?” Sanchez said. “It’s nice to see people still remembered. A lot of people take life for granted. It’s rare these days to see folks commemorating, remembering those who’ve passed.”
Nearby, volunteer/donation coordinator Adrianne James-Singh managed the day’s logistics with practiced precision: water jugs, sign-in tables, crates of bundled flags. She has been organizing this effort for five years.
“Once you’re here — and this is going to sound strange perhaps — but it’s such a good time,” she said. “I especially love seeing the young ones. They walk back and forth with the flags, doing something meaningful with friends and family — it’s so much fun.”
Still, the underlying purpose remains solemn.
“It’s important for the community because — well, first, a lot of people don’t even know this cemetery is here,” James-Singh said. “And a lot of folks don’t know a whole lot about the home in and of itself. This home is the community. It has been here 141 years this year. It not only houses our veterans but it also provides jobs for many people in the area. So it’s important that the community knows it’s here and stays connected to it. Honoring our veterans this way reminds us of that.”
Napa County Supervisor Anne Cottrell echoed that view.
“This frames what the holiday is really about,” she said. “Remembering veterans and their service. Being grateful. It’s wonderful to see all the scout troops, the American Canyon football team and community members — some here for the first time, others returning year after year. It’s how we come together.”
Many volunteers came through word of mouth or after experiencing the event the year before. Emily Irwin, a leader of a Girl Scout Troop in Napa, brought more girls this year than last.
“When we signed up last year, it was a meaningful experience,” she said. “It was emotional. The girls who came were really touched. When we told the rest of the troop about it, we had a much bigger group come out this year.”
For some, the connection went beyond community service. Atiana Ruiz, a caregiver from Napa, said she brought her children not just to volunteer but also to visit a former resident of her care home who had recently moved into the Veterans Home’s memory care unit.
“You get really close to them,” she said. “My kids love him. So after we finish here, we’re going to see him. It just feels right.”
The field transformed as the sun rose higher. Thousands of small flags caught the light. They marked lives, service and sacrifice — but also the hands that had placed them there: children, teenagers, mothers, fathers, veterans.
Sanchez paused when asked if he planned to return next year.
“Yeah,” he said. “Now that I know this happens, I’m in.”
On the following day, Sunday morning, 102-year-old Robert Heiss sat at a folding table assembling bouquets of flowers along with a smaller collection of volunteers than the day prior. Each year he participates in Memorial Day preparations by helping create floral arrangements with blooms donated by local residents and businesses. These are then placed at select gravesites and along walking paths.
“It’s wonderful,” Heiss said of life at the Veterans Home of California, where he’s lived since age 86. “There are all kinds of activities if you want to do them. I’ve never been one to just sit and watch TV.”
Born in San Francisco in 1922, Heiss served in World War II as an aircraft electrician and flight engineer on a C-47. When he moved to the home in 2008, he was one of more than 1,000 residents — with hundreds who had served in World War II. Now he is one of just 11.
“Our ranks have really diminished,” he said. “Only 11 of us left now.”
Heiss said he has also spent years cataloging and labeling more than 300 trees lining the home’s main walkway, known as the Alameda. He even wrote a brochure to accompany the effort.
“It was quite a task getting them all identified,” he said.
When asked if he takes pride in being the oldest resident, he grinned. “I’m the senior guy here, now.”
These preparations — the flags and the flowers — led to the main event. On Monday, May 26, the formal Memorial Day ceremony took place at 10 a.m. at the Yountville Veterans Home Cemetery and culminated in a flyover by the Memorial Squadron at 12:30 p.m.
Other ceremonies around Napa County included:
9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. — Calistoga Pioneer Cemetery, hosted by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
10 a.m. — St. Helena Public Cemetery, hosted by American Legion Post 199
11 a.m. — Veterans Memorial Park in American Canyon, hosted by local veterans groups
And on Saturday, May 31, volunteers will return to Yountville at 8:30 a.m. to help respectfully gather and store the thousands of flags placed over the weekend.
“One year, it was just me and two other people picking up all the flags,” James-Singh said with a laugh. “So yes, we could always use the help.”
Yet even that task, she added, carries its own quiet significance.
“Picking them up is part of the honoring,” she said. “We place them with care, and we gather them with care. It’s a full circle.”
That circle — of placing, remembering and returning each year — is what Memorial Day has come to mean for many who gather at the Yountville Veterans Home, and beyond. Whether it’s a young scout pressing a flag into the soil, a football player walking quietly down a row or a centenarian arranging flowers with steady hands, the message is the same: Memories matters. Service is not forgotten.
And in that shared act of remembrance and gratitude, something enduring takes root — a community that doesn’t just honor its past but carries forward the values of service and sacrifice, one flag at a time.
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Tim Carl is veteran and a Napa Valley-based photojournalist.
Thank you for honoring our Vets. My family will share a zoom call for all us kids of the four brothers - our dad and three uncles- who served in various branches of the services during WWII. All returned home post-war, rarely speaking of their experiences.