The idea came to his head quickly.
Getting all the pieces to fit together to make his dream a reality took much longer than he initially expected.
Ron-Paul Tamayo, a Hart High School senior and member of Boy Scouts Troop 228, based out of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Church in Saugus, chose to honor veterans for his Eagle Scout project. That project ultimately led to him interviewing 22 local veterans from each branch of the military — except for the newly created Space Force — for a video that will be made available to the public.
On Wednesday, Tamayo completed one of the final stages of the project, installing a sign at Veterans Memorial Plaza in Newhall with a QR code enabling anyone to view the video.
“I really wanted something that would be accessible to the community and something that would be easy for them to show,” Tamayo said.
At the top of the sign are the words, “In Their Own Words,” while below the QR code are these words: “Santa Clarita is home to many veterans who proudly served their country. Listen to the experiences of military veterans in the community by scanning this QR to hear their stories.”
The video, which took roughly a month to organize and shoot all of the interviews, goes over each veteran’s story — what made them join the military and how serving has impacted their lives. Tamayo, who has a history of family members serving in the military, said he gained a new appreciation for those serving the country after listening to what the interviewees had to say.
The veterans ranged in age from their 30s to nearly 100.
One of those interviewed is 99 years old and served during World War II. Tamayo said that despite her age, she was still able to speak with great clarity.
“I was really surprised with how much she was able to recall,” Tamayo said. “I think it’s probably in the top-three longest interviews that was recorded. So, it’s really great that I was able to hear so much about not only her time during the war, but also her experience growing up.”
Tamayo chose to do a video project rather than something physical as he is looking to get into the film industry. His plan after high school is to attend John Paul University in Escondido to major in screenwriting with a minor in business.
The idea first came to Tamayo in June, but he wasn’t able to get all the pieces to fit until November. It’s been a non-stop process since then to get the video completed, with filming starting in January.
The project could not have been completed without some help, Tamayo said. One of his first calls was to the city of Santa Clarita to make sure that what he was planning would be OK with officials. He said after being bounced to a few different departments, he was connected with Phil Lantis, arts and events manager for the city, who was on hand to witness the sign being placed into the soil.
The sign is facing a memorial honoring the veterans from the Santa Clarita Valley who have died while serving.
“He and I talked about a few different locations, and he was wanting it near this, which made a lot of sense,” Lantis said. “So, it’s kind of tying in because this is honoring, sadly, the folks that we’ve lost from Santa Clarita in various conflicts going back to World War I.”
Veterans Historical Plaza was opened in 2005, honoring veterans from across the SCV.
“It’s really great that we have a place for this to happen and that Ron-Paul chose to make his project about continuing the great work that the city’s been doing to honor our veterans,” Lantis said.
Friends also helped Tamayo with the video-editing process. As a member of Hart TV, the student-run broadcast at Hart High, Tamayo had no shortage of help in getting the video put together.
Tamayo was joined on Wednesday by his parents, Mario Tamayo and Natalie Rioux-Tamayo, his sister, Talia, a seventh-grader at Placerita Junior High School, and Jarrett Reyes, a fellow Boy Scout. All played their own role in ensuring the sign was properly placed.
To view the project website, visit tinyurl.com/53x28txy.
