Temecula Valley, A Place of the Honored
- Lloyd Mize
- May 20
- 4 min read
The master strokes of the Temecula Valley beauty include the resplendence of the Southern California high-desert peppered with exquisite vineyards, rolling hills, equestrian elegance, old-town charm, and hard-working families building graciously good lives. The So Cal sun, posh wineries, slower pace and sanity (when compared to Los Angeles or San Diego) are a major attraction (not to mention real estate).
Who are the honored in the Temecula Valley
Look closer and you’ll see another underlying theme. It’s a theme that belongs not to the attraction but to the attracted.
Here are some clues:
American flags hanging outside of homes all year long. Older men with crew cuts sitting quietly at restaurants or in parks. Young military families balancing children and everyday life with deployment. Marine Corp stickers on pickups and motorcycles.
These neighbors, who were attracted to the Temecula Valley, carry the fingerprints of warriors which makes the Temecula valley a place of the honored.
The Legendary honored in the Temecula Valley
For example, the legendary 1st Reconnaissance Battalion from nearby Camp Pendleton.
Attracted to Temecula, yes. Attracting attention, no. In fact, attention is something the Marines of 1st Recon are experts in avoiding. They are reconnaissance Marines. Each Marine meticulously trained to move ahead of larger forces, deep into danger, gathering intelligence and protecting fellow Marines from unseen threats. In fact, their motto is “Swift, Silent, Deadly,” and history proves those are not just words. (1)
For decades, these Marines have fought in some of the hardest battles America has faced like Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and countless others. And when they completed their task, many of them returned stateside to their homes right here in the Temecula Valley. Some come home carrying medals, some with scars and some, sadly, never come home.
Not coming home from battle, that’s what Memorial Day reminds us to never forget. It’s one of the reasons the Temecula Valley is the place of the honored.
The Heroes honored in the Temecula Valley
Among the most honored in the Temecula Valley is Marine Staff Sergeant Louis Cardin. Louis was a highly respected Marine Raider and reconnaissance warrior. In Mukhmur, Iraq, he and his fellow Marines came under a fierce ISIS rocket attack. Cardin, selflessly, moved to protect the men in his company. He continued to battle out front managing to be the game changer for the other men. Only two Marines were injured. The Temecula Valley, and this world, finished 2016 without Staff Sergeant Louis Cardin. (2)
Louis was just 27 years old. Twenty-seven! At that age, most guys are just beginning to build a life. Yet Cardin gave his life serving others in a place most Americans will never see or ever realize just how dangerous that part of the world can be. Temecula’s Fallen Heroes Memorial, at the famous Duck Pond Park, honors Louis Cardin and other local heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. (3)
Why they are honored in the Temecula Valley
Before the story of Louis Cardin there were stories from the Recon Marines in Vietnam. Their missions remained classified or quietly buried inside military archives for years. These highly skilled micro teams would infiltrate deep into enemy territory via helicopter rope drops, by boat, or sometimes on foot through thick jungle terrain. All the while knowing that if discovered a rescue unit may never come.
Time after time the Recon Marines in Vietnam faced impossible circumstances of being outnumbered, isolated or limited ammunition.
Still, they went.
Again and again.
Why?
A place of the honored, the Temecula Valley
Because the information they gathered saved American lives. Marines returned home because Recon teams warned them of ambushes, enemy troop movements, or hidden positions before the larger forces walked into danger. They were fighting for something bigger than themselves. They were battling for things like the freedom to worship openly, to speak without fear, to raise families in peace, to disagree without imprisonment or the freedom for little kids in Temecula to sleep safely in their beds.
Sometimes I get so busy, I don’t even think about the freedoms I enjoy. I’m too busy, well, enjoying them. Maybe that’s you, too. But freedoms are never automatic. Someone paid for them. Usually in blood.
That’s what Memorial Day is really about.
Sure sales happen, backyard parties will go on, and you get three days off work. But those things happen because one day a year was set aside to remember the sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and friends who stood in violent places so the rest of us could live ordinary and free lives in peace.
Temecula Valley is a place of the honored and that’s why our inland paradise matters so much to military families. This valley became, and remains, a kind of refuge. A peaceful place beneath open skies where warriors come home and finally breathe again.
In 2006, the City of Temecula officially adopted the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion as a way of honoring and supporting these Marines and their families. (3)
I love that.
The Bible understands remembrance deeply. In Joshua 4, God instructed His people to stack memorial stones after crossing the Jordan River so future generations would ask: “What do these stones mean?”
The answer was simple: Never forget what God had done for them.
Memorial Day is the modern day version of the Bible’s memorial stones at the Jordan river.
Jesus said “Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one's friends (John 15:13).
That verse is no abstraction for Recon Marines. Some literally lived it. Some died living it.
So this Memorial Day, when the California sunset falls over Temecula wine country and families gather around dinner tables, maybe take one quiet moment to remember the fallen heroes connected to this valley. The Marines, and members of all military branches, who walked into danger so their children, and yours, could live free.
And remember to offer prayers of gratitude for them all. Because Temecula is more than a beautiful valley.
The Temecula Valley is a place of the honored.
Sources used for this blog include
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