High school offers tribute to veterans

NEWPORT BEACH — Violet Cowden came to Newport Harbor High School on Friday to remind girls that they can be fighter pilots. After all, she can — even at the age of 90.

Cowden, who belonged to the WASPs — Women Airforce Service Pilots — during World War II, was among the few women of her generation to make it into the cockpit. Even though she didn’t fly in combat, she still got to hone her skills by flying operational flights around the United States. A year and a half ago, she celebrated her 89th birthday by parachuting out of a plane.

“If I could do it 60-some years ago, you can do it now,” Cowden told more than 200 students and faculty who gathered outside Newport Harbor’s clock tower before noon. “So go for it.”

The event, hosted by the Student Political Action Committee, marked Newport Harbor’s eighth annual Memorial Day ceremony.

With a number of veterans seated in the front rows, the school paused before the three-day weekend to pay tribute to its defenders.

Thirty-seven Newport Harbor graduates have died in combat since the school opened in 1930 — the most recent being Jose Garibay, who died in Iraq in March 2003.

As the American flag rippled over 15th Street and Irvine Avenue, students and veterans took the microphone to share their personal insights on Memorial Day. Toward the end of the ceremony, the Student Political Action Committee followed a tradition by reading aloud the names of all of Newport Harbor’s students who died in service.

“We spend just one day of the year honoring their sacrifices, and the rest of the year enjoying the freedoms they purchased for us,” said co-president Luke Brunda, 17.