O.C. Soldiers Memorialized in Ceremony

YORBA LINDA —  Bess McKenzie thought about her son whose name was engraved on one of the ornaments decorating a commemorative Christmas tree at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace and brushed away the tears.

Marine Pfc. James C. McKenzie was among 319 servicemen from Orange County who were killed in the Vietnam War. On Wednesday, their names adorned porcelain ornaments that Nixon Library officials said will be used in an annual holiday tribute to those who died in America’s longest war.

Bess McKenzie joined the families of 12 other men who died in Vietnam in hanging the specially crafted ornaments on an 8-foot tree.

James McKenzie, who grew up in Yorba Linda, was 20 and had been in Vietnam three weeks when he was killed. Bess McKenzie, 84, said she only received three letters from her son before his death.

“I think of him every day. This is a beautiful thing they’re doing to invite me and the other mothers who lost their sons,” she said. “I didn’t think I could go through this, but today I realized for the first time that other people have suffered and are suffering too.”

Margarita Hernandez described how her brother, Army Spc. Daniel Guardado, died on April 4, 1968, while serving with the 101st Airborne Division. Guardado, who lived in Santa Ana, was 22.

“He was trying to pull a wounded buddy to safety when he was shot and killed,” said Hernandez. “It’s hard going through a ceremony like this, but we’re happy that they remembered him because his country called and he answered the call.”

Wednesday’s ceremony also attracted several Vietnam War veterans who honored their fallen brethren.

Junior Hollenbeck, 70, served in Vietnam with the 1st Infantry Division in 1965 and 1966. He also fought in the Korean War where he was awarded a Purple Heart.

“Ceremonies like this are important for the families of the men [who died]. We say men, but many of them didn’t live to see 20 ,” said Hollenbeck, a retired Army master sergeant.

After the ceremony, four teenagers from Magnolia High School looked at several ornaments on the tree until they found the one that had the name they were looking for.

“Here it is. Scott D. Henry. He was my friend’s uncle,” said Samantha DiPaola.

Army Cpl. Scott D. Henry, who lived in Anaheim, was killed Aug. 14, 1968.