War and Remembrance

SAN FERNANDO —  Retired Col. Larry Powell stood silently Tuesday as fellow veterans placed a wreath at the base of the eternal flame burning within a metal urn outside the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3834.

Traffic cruised past the flame as the 60 veterans with bowed heads gathered around the monument to fallen servicemen, but none of the drivers stopped or, as the veterans described it, waved to express their respect.

“Veterans Day is not just to remember the dead,” said Powell, a former pilot whose plane was downed over Germany in 1945.

“This day is also to tell those who never knew what sacrifices were made, what people were fighting for. Too many people think of this day as just a day off from work.”

Veterans Day ceremonies proceeded throughout the nation Tuesday, in parks and veterans’ halls, but the stories and lessons of the national holiday were told to attentive crowds like the one in San Fernando, inside the cinder block hall of VFW Post 3834.

Powell spoke about his friend Red Hargrow, a buddy from Hoover High School in Glendale who joined the Army and was swiftly sent to Europe where World War II was carving up the continent.

Red, as Powell described him, was a jolly kid with a youthful love for life. But when he stepped onto Omaha Beach, one of thousands of infantrymen who took part in the D-Day offensive against the German military in France, he was shot and killed immediately.

“The moment his foot touched sand, he was killed,” Powell recalled. “He never fired a shot. We have to remember him, and the others who made the same sacrifice. They couldn’t be with us. We cannot forget.”

Some 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.

“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.”

Kramer named his son for his friend who died in Vietnam.

“We’re never going to forget those people who died fighting for our country,” he said. “We cannot.”

Powell told listeners that they had much to be proud of, including country, freedom and the precious gift of life. He also reminded the crowd that no one can be allowed to forget, and for those who do not yet know of the sacrifices veterans made all across the planet, “it is time they did,” he said.

“I think about Red quite a lot,” Powell said. “We as veterans have a tremendous education that we have to get to younger people.

People must know about veterans like Red, or else they’ll take what they have for granted.”

But what, some kids might ask, have we to take for granted?

“We are free,” Powell said. “That can’t be underestimated. We all have the responsibility to remember those who helped keep us free.”

Though the crowd inside VFW Post 3834 was mostly graying, a handful of children was in attendance, brought to the ceremony by parents and grandparents intent on reminding the youngsters that wars do not exist only in history books, but also in the memories of veterans.

“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.”

Standing nearby, David’s grandfather, Clarence Laux, smiled and bobbed his head.

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

Laux surveyed the room of wrinkled faces and graying hair.

“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.”