Proclamation: “Therefore, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2024, as Loyalty Day. This Loyalty Day, I call upon the people of the United States to join in this national observance, display the American Flag, and pledge allegiance to our Republic for which it stands.”

Loyalty Day, some history

Last Sunday was Cinco de Mayo and it converged this year with one of the most visible Peninsula celebrations — the Loyalty Day Parade in Long Beach. I was participating with several of my podmates, so more about that in a moment.

First, though, what the heck is “loyalty day?” It has a rather tangled, shadowed past. In the aftermath of World War II and the Cold War the specter of communism haunted some governmental representatives, most spectacularly Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who with the backing of the House Un-American Activities Committee, threatened and blacklisted American citizens suspected of communist leanings. It was a complicated time with issues similar to current ones: how do we balance civil liberties and freedom of speech with national security and public safety?

At any rate, on May 1, 1955 President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed the first observance of Loyalty Day. It was formalized by Congress in 1958 and has been recognized with an official proclamation every year by every president since its inception. Many towns — large and small — all over America began the tradition of parades.

Around the Vietnam War, Loyalty Day celebrations started to decline across the country, but in Long Beach the Loyalty Day celebration is one of the longest-lasting celebrations. Despite its complicated roots, Jim Sayce, who was parade master of ceremonies for many years, reflected that “Loyalty Day was more about us as a small community on the edge of the continent tying ourselves back across the nation in our own way, to our own roots.” This year seemed no different.

From Beach Barons (serving hotdogs and ‘burgs), to clowns, to the Coast Guard and other military, local businesses, both the Democratic and the Republican committees, dressed up princesses, and all the small town bands which exchange parade-duty with our proud Ilwaco band, the Marching Fishermen — the Loyalty Day Parade in Long Beach is an ongoing display of north coast spirit, allegiance to our country, and just plain fun.

Grand Marshall Al Betters

This year’s Parade Grand Marshal was U.S. Navy Veteran, Albert Betters. Al, one of my very dear friends and covid podmates, was drafted for the Navy SEALs before they were even called SEALs (they were frogmen).

Al’s naval career began in 1947 as a reservist. After completing two years of college, he was called to active duty and sent to Japan, assigned to a vice admiral. After one and a half years of special duty with his Underwater Demolition Team and Special Missions Group in Korea, he was wounded and evacuated as a Lieutenant Junior Grade Officer to the Philippines for medical treatment and recovery. From the Philippines he joined the 1955 Operation Deep Freeze, taking Adm. Richard Byrd to the Antarctic. He came back to the U.S. in 1956, resigned his commission, and returned to college.

Al has stories. Like the time one of this bosses said, “Does anybody want to teach Doris Day how to swim?” Al just happened to be at the right place at the right time. How could he refuse? Doris was supposed to star in the “Glass Bottom Boat,” a movie directed by Frank Tashin, staring Rod Taylor, Arthur Godfrey and John McGiver, but she didn’t know how to swim. Al stepped up. Then he became her life-long friend and still knows her son. (The film went on to earn $4.3 million — about $40 million in 2024 value. Al, I hope they gave you a bonus.)

But Al is more than a just military guy or a swimming instructor. He’s an incredibly talented artist in many media. You’ll find his paintings and wood carvings at the Bold Gallery. He’s a wicked good cribbage player. (I guess cribbage is one of the most popular card games for shipmates on or under the sea.) Plus, after his military service, Al had a long career and is still active in engineering in the energy field. And Al is a co-founder and supporter of the Ocean Park Veterans’ Lunch which started years ago with co-founder Nanci Main at Nanci and Jimella’s Klipsan Café and Cocktails, and most recently has taken place at the Moose Lodge.

Al, honored in this year’s Loyalty Day Parade, was driven by David Fraumeni, a 20-year Beach Baron veteran, in his ’65 Falcon convertible with a 302 Ford V-8 engine. As David said, “It’s a cruiser. I drive it everywhere — I’ve been down to California and back. It’s mileage isn’t too good, about 15 mpg, but you don’t see too many of these — they never really sold a lot of these. Just a couple years later Ford came out with the Mustang and it was more popular. So they stopped making the Falcon in 1970.” David even took the top down and, by gosh, the rain held off.

Podmate entourage

Nanci Main, Katie Witherbee-Allsup, Liz Todd and Karla Jensen volunteered weeks ago to be part of the team checking in the various parade participants. And Nanci had also asked Steve Kovach, Liz and me to walk beside Al as his official honor guard.

We showed up bright and early at 11 a.m. and did the usual “hurry up and wait” routine. The parade master Brian Loos, who’s been coordinating the parade entries since 2005, walked by with a grin and a clipboard, so we asked him the question on everyone’s mind, “When does the parade start?” (Not ‘til 1 p.m.)

While we waited, the bands started filing into the big field by the Long Beach Fire Station, lining up by their assigned and numbered spots. Because I’d been in bands in junior and senior high — and was even band master for a couple years — I was worried about the rain and the instruments, especially the drums. (There is nothing like moisture to wilt a crisp snare drum cadence.) But no one else seemed perturbed by the misty weather.

Finally, we pulled around the corner from the gathering spot at 9th and Washington and got in line. Nanci, Steve, Liz, Doxie Jackson and I walked beside the Grand Marshal’s dark turquoise chariot. Lucky us, we were right in front of the Ilwaco Band — led by two charming sharks carrying their banner — so we had music for the whole parade. Jackson and I had matching yellow sou’westers, and I have to say he stole the show. (It’s a given in showbiz: you never want to be on stage with an animal or a baby…)

So many vets along the way saluted Al, or walked up to thank him. The sentiment was, “We might not be having this parade if it weren’t for your service…” Things went swimmingly. Jackson brought out so many smiles, so much laughter, especially from the kids — until he stopped just in the middle of main street to poop. So for the rest of the parade, I walked with a smile on my face and a doggie bag full of warm poop in my hand.

Then, at the end of the parade, the Grand Marshal and his entourage all piled into David’s Falcon and we were delivered back to the field stage for the program where Al received his Grand Marshal award. In total, it was quintessentially Peninsulan — a lovely, spectacularly gloomy, wonderfully small-towny, clowny, marching-bandy, “coasty with the mosty” day.