Disneyland Resort Honors Medal of Honor Recipient Jay R. Vargas

Kevin Rafferty, Jr.

by , Communications, WDI

Disneyland Resort Honors Medal of Honor Recipient Jay R. Vargas

During the daily flag retreat ceremony at Disneyland park earlier this week, the Disneyland Resort honored retired Marine Col. Jay R. Vargas, who received the Medal of Honor from President Nixon in 1970 for his actions during the Vietnam War. The Medal of Honor is the highest military honor a service member can achieve in the U.S. Armed Forces. There currently are only 79 living recipients.
Disneyland Resort Honors Medal of Honor Recipient Jay R. Vargas

Vargas and his family drove down Main Street, U.S.A., in the Main Street Fire Engine before being led by the Disneyland Band into Town Square, where the colors were retired in honor of all members of the military.
Disneyland Resort Honors Medal of Honor Recipient Jay R. Vargas

Vargas and his wife, Dottie, spent their honeymoon at the Disneyland Resort and were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary! Have you seen or been a part of the flag retreat ceremony lately?

Read on for more posts about Disney Parks and military veterans:

Comments

  • Flag retreat is a cherished tradition! May it forever remain in Disneyland Park! Thank you to all who have served our great country!

  • Semper Fi, Col Vargas, and Thank you !

  • As a military Mom, I can’t thank our military enough for what they do. What an honor to have Col. Vargas visit Disneyland and kudos to Disneyland for honoring him. What bravery and sacrifice a soldier goes through to even receive this award is beyond imaginable.

    Back in February, we took our daughter to Disneyland to celebrate her homecoming from Afghanistan. Our soldiers deserve a little Disney magic and thank you Disneyland for your support of our military!

  • @Joshua, you don’t get picked. During the ceremony, the announcer recognizes every branch of service and the servicemen/servicewomen go up and salute the flag. One of the Dapper Dans (Jim) was in the Army and when his branch is announced, you can see him there, standing tall and proud!
    Love seeing the flag retreival. Always puts a smile on my face!!

  • Col. Vargas, thank you for all you have offered and sacrificed for this country. We are indebted to you. This goes for all veterans and active duty military men and women. Thank you. God bless!

  • My husband and I were there in March after he had come home from a deployment. We were only celebrating our 2 year anniversary, but we did get to participate in the flag retreat 😉 It was wonderful. I grew up at Disneyland and have never seen it there, so it was nice to discovery something new.

  • My family and I love the Flag Retreat! Too bad Ernie missed this one!

  • That’s wonderful! Thank you for your service Col. Vargas!

    I participated in the flag ceremony for the first time a couple weeks ago. I really enjoyed it and it was so great talking to the fellow Veteran’s that were there!

  • I am active duty military and my wife served 4 years as well. We will be there in Sept and Nov.How do you get picked to be a part of the ceremony?

    • Hi Joshua – You may participate daily when your branch of the military is recognized during the ceremony.

  • I love to watch the flag retreat, because of the veterans of different eras who join in the front row. They have seen and experienced so much, as it stirs my imagination to consider their memories. Last year as I was watching the ceremony, I looked at the gentleman standing at attention next to me – it was Tony Baxter! I was torn as to if I should say something to him, but was sure I would make a fool of myself, so said nothing. However, another guest came up to him at the end of the ceremony and told Tony how much he admired his work. Now, that was an appropriate comment!

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