Ceremonies Pay Tribute to Veterans

Southern Californians marked Veterans Day with ceremonies and quiet observances as varied as the experiences and memories of those who fought and died for the United States since World War I.

There were aircraft flyovers and artillery salutes, monument dedications and tearful recollections of departed relatives and comrades. Playboy playmates signed autographs on the Westside. Relief workers dispensed hot food and blankets to homeless veterans downtown.

Some commemorations drew little public notice, but were deeply important to those who turned out for them.

As cars cruised past the eternal flame burning outside Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3834 in San Fernando, 60 veterans, heads bowed, gathered around the monument to fallen soldiers. But none of the drivers stopped or waved, the veterans said.

“Too many people think of this day as just a day off from work,” said retired Col. Larry Powell, a former Air Force pilot whose plane was downed over Germany in 1945.

“Veterans Day is not just to remember the dead,” he said. “This day is also to tell those who never knew what sacrifices were made, what people were fighting for.

About 10 miles away, in McCambridge Park in Burbank, nearly 250 veterans, family members and area residents gathered to hear their own heroes’ stories of fallen warriors. Burbank Mayor Bob Kramer broke into tears as he described his friend Jack Wilson.

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“Jack and I graduated from Burroughs High together in 1964,” said Kramer, a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War. “He was killed during the Tet Offensive in ’68.”

Kramer, who wore a red, white and blue, star-spangled tie to the Veterans Day ceremony, recalled his time in Vietnam as a gritty, scary experience. “But I made it back,” he said. “Jack didn’t.”

In Lomita, a new black granite veterans memorial built with donations from residents and businesses was dedicated at the entrance to the post office.

About 500 residents watched Lomita officials raise the POW/MIA flag that honors prisoners of war and those missing in action. The black and white flag depicts a silhouette of a captive being watched from behind a barbed-wire guard tower.

Lomita City Councilman Dave Albert has been a leader in efforts to allow the POW/MIA flag to be flown over federal buildings on patriotic holidays. Legislation permitting the raising of the flag over U.S. facilities has passed Congress but has yet to be signed by the president.

Lomita officials were thus a bit ahead of the law in raising the flag, but decided not to wait.

“This is for all the veterans who served as POWs and MIAs,” said Albert. “You will not be forgotten.”

Elsewhere in Southern California:

* Homeless veterans were remembered at the downtown Los Angeles Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic, where they arrived for a hot meal, blankets, flu shots as well as job opportunities.

* A 21-gun salute punctuated a Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Memorial Park tribute.

In Santa Monica, a husband and wife American Legion team revived a tradition that had died out 50 years ago by staging a Veterans Day ceremony at 3rd Street and Arizona Avenue.

* The West Los Angeles VA Medical Center hosted an autograph-signing featuring Playboy playmates from several decades.

* Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presided over a wreath-laying ceremony at the Richard M. Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda.

Back at the VFW Post in San Fernando, some parents and grandparents brought children, to ensure that veterans are remembered by succeeding generations.

“My grandfather brought me here and I’m glad he did,” said David Minjares, 13, whose grandfather is a World War II veteran. “I wish other kids were here so they could learn to appreciate this other than a day off. Even when teachers in school talk about Veterans Day, most kids don’t pay attention. They should.”

David’s grandfather, standing nearby, smiled.

“They know what this is about. That’s what I wanted when I brought them here,” said Clarence Laux, who served in the Navy.

Laux looked around him.

“Veterans Day ain’t what it used to be, when every church bell would ring and fire engines would run their sirens and then there would be a minute of silence throughout town,” Laux said. “But we’re still proud, and we won’t let anyone forget.”

Times staff writers Peter Y. Hong and Lisa Richardson and correspondent Joseph Hanania contributed to this story. Associated Press also contributed.