Skip to Content
Imperial County

Imperial County residents honor veterans with 7-mile walk

veteran
By
Published 6:14 PM

News 11's Gianella Ghiglino joins them on their journey to salute those who served

BRAWLEY, Calif. (KYMA,KECY) - Imperial Valley residents gathered Wednesday in Westmorland for a 7-mile walk to Brawley to honor and remember those who served in the military.

Many brought flags some brought pictures of those who served and are no longer with us but one thing they all brought was their patriotism.

For Frankie Pinedo, this veteran's day would be the first without his dad. His das was a Marine who passed away in July from a Covid Induced Pneumonia.

"There is a hole in my heart right now because he’s not here with us um physically but I know he’s with us you know spiritually, emotionally umm we just started the walk and it’s already hitting me, I already broke down once as we were walking,” said Pinedo.

Organizer and Veteran Ernesto Mariscal said today is about bringing the community together and saying thank you to veterans.

“It’s a very personal thing to me, I served in the army for 21 years, it just feels good and brings me a great satisfaction and it shows gratefulness for serving this country and it just brings me great satisfaction to know I’m doing something for our community,” said organizer Ernesto Mariscal.

Pinedo says these seven miles are for his dad and every Veterans day would be dedicated to him too.

“My dad always spoke about how he was a Marine first, then a father a grandpa, and businessman."

News 11's Gianella Ghiglino will have more of their heartfelt tributes on Nightside at 9pm PST/10pm MST.

Article Topic Follows: Imperial County

Jump to comments ↓

Gianella Ghiglino

Peruvian-born and LA raised Gianella Ghiglino joins the team from the San Fernando valley. “LA is the place that taught me how to breath and Peru is my breath.” She says she was inspired by the community she grew up in and began documenting her experience through poetry at the age of 7. “I wrote about everything I saw, felt and everything that inspired me.” When she entered High School she joined her school news station and realized that broadcast journalism allowed her to pursue her passion and her purpose all at once. Gianella attended Cal State Northridge and received a Bachelors degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Spanish Broadcast Journalism, and Political Science. She did several internships while in College but most notably interned for PBS’s local LA station for three years. “My purpose is to share my story and of those in my community, my passion is writing.”

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION

KYMA KECY is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation.

Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here

If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here.

Skip to content