On Memorial Day, remembering California's war dead

Memorial Day events across California on Monday will mark the sacrifice of fallen soldiers.

The Times has compiled a collection of stories about the 701 California service members and 474 others based in California who died during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Here are some statistics The Times has compiled about California's war dead from the two wars:

By hometown

• San Diego 30 
• Los Angeles 29
• Long Beach 13
• San Jose 13
• Stockton 9

By marital status

• Single 319
• Married 304
• Engaged 46

By high school

• Buchanan High (Clovis) 7
• Hemet High (Hemet) 5
• Simi Valley High (Simi Valley) 4
• Leuzinger High (Lawndale) 4
• Hesperia High School (Hesperia) 4

By gender

• Male 685
• Female 16

By cemetery

• Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside 78
• Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego 45
• Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. 45
• Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno 18 
• Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier 16

Read more about California's war dead here.

--Shelby Grad

Photos: At top, William Brooks, 91, center, a World War II veteran who survived a prisoner of war camp in Germany, and Tom Crosby, 78, right, a Navy World War II veteran who survived three years in a Japanese POW camp, salute as the San Diego Young Marines present the colors during the inaugural Memorial Day ceremony at the new Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego. Tom Bevers, 86, of Ramona, a World War II veteran, pays his repects to his late wife of 65 years, Clara Bevers, before a Memorial Day ceremony at the new Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego. "I've been coming here weekly because I miss her," Bevers said. "It's all I have left ... a visitation." Jackelynn Freund, 8, of San Diego adds flowers -- some of them picked from her garden -- to the flag-bedecked headstone of her grandmother, Navy veteran Jessie Coats, during the Memorial Day ceremony at the new Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / May 24, 2012)