Veterans and Active-Duty Marines Celebrate 'Juneteenth' and Remember the End of Slavery

Five area churches—the ,, City of Refuge Church of God in Christ, and the —gathered at in Oceanside Saturday in remembrance of "Juneteenth," the NAACP-sponsored celebration that marks independence for African-Americans after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

After the document was signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, it took three years for a majority of slaves to receive word that they had been freed.

Most of them were illiterate and the news was slowly spread from plantation to plantation by word of mouth, said Milton Taylor, a retired Marine gunnery sergeant and current second vice president for the North San Diego County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

After the final battle of the Civil War had been fought in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger was ordered to Galveston, TX, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.

"It's not just a day for blacks," said Milton. "We hope that everyone who's interested in freedom for other people would appreciate this day too and come out and celebrate."

"Juneteenth," nationally recognized on June 19, is normally celebrated by the North County NAACP and area churches annually at the beach. This was the first year the event was hosted at Luiseno Park, said retired Marine Master Sergeant Dale Giles.

"It started off as a cultural event, but now it's expanded to where everyone of any race is included," said Giles. "It's about getting together in fellowship and doing different things ... just to have a community event to bring everybody together."

Betty Williams, first vice president of the North San Diego County NAACP and this year's "Juneteenth" facilitator, told Patch that the event was important for freedom.

"It's the real date—the nineteenth of June—that slaves were informed that they were free," said Williams. "That's when we celebrate our real freedom day."

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