Los Altos Patch reprints a special Veterans Day tribute, "Honoring Our Sons."
By Alexander Atkins
Editor and Designer of Our Town
Upon learning of the bereavement of a widowed mother who lost all her sons in the Civil War, President Lincoln was moved to write an eloquent and poignant letter:
“(I have learned) that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”
Over the past five decades, the Town of Los Altos Hills has lost four sons: Louis Gau, Larry Mullen, William Sigua, and Matthew Manoukian. By remembering them — their courage, their dedication, their service — we humbly honor their lives and the lives they touched. (Click on each name below to read more)
Louis Ellie Gau
Private First Class Louis Gau was born in 1945. At the age of 23, Gau joined the army in early 1968, and was deployed to Vietnam. Three days after deployment to Vietnam, Gau was killed in action, along with three other men. Read more
Larry Donald Mullen
Private First Class Larry Mullen was born in 1950, the son of William Mullen and Dorothy Overall. He volunteered for the Marines was deployed to Vietnam in April 1969. Mullen was killed by enemy fire while leading a Marine Corps patrol near Quang Tri on May 26. Read more
William Mason Sigua
Sergeant William Sigua, the son of Ben and Jackie Sigua, was born in 1985 and grew up in Los Altos Hills with his two older brothers, David and Jonathan. He enlisted in the U.S. Army following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and served first in Afghanistan and then Iraq. Sigua was killed in action on January 31, 2007. Read more
Matthew Patrick Manoukian
Matthew Manoukian was born in 1983, the son of Socrates “Peter” Manoukian, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge, and Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian, Associate Justice of the Sixth District California Court of Appeal. He was killed on August, 10, 2012 in Afghanistan. Read more
To honor these remarkable, brave, young men, and the sacrifice that their families have laid upon the altar of this country, the City Council has unanimously voted to commission an appropriate memorial at the base of the flag pole at Town Hall. The memorial is expected to be completed in the coming year.
Our Town is a newsletter serving residents of the Town of Los Altos Hills, edited and designed by Alexander Atkins. This excerpt from the latest edition was reprinted with permission.
