Veterans Reflect on Past, Present

Curt Davison, 82, fought the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II. Dennis Hoffman, 53, trampled through the jungles near the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Peter Robles, 27, “saw the world” as a Marine whose nine years of service ended in July.

They represent three generations, but Sunday they shared some common bonds: military service and a love of country.

On a damp and cloudy day, the three men joined about 200 people in Oxnard’s Plaza Park for a solemn Veterans Day service that honored the men and women who have served as well as those serving in America’s latest war.

Across Ventura County, several events marked Veterans Day on the two-month anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In Camarillo, Ventura, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, patriotic music blared and several veterans gave speeches during public ceremonies.

And in Santa Paula, residents dedicated a memorial to veterans of the Korean War.

At Oxnard’s Plaza Park event, members of American Legion Post 48 handed out plastic American flags before the ceremonies, as people sipped hot coffee and ate sweet rolls while huddled under tents during a steady morning drizzle.

The mood was one of patriotism and anger toward suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

“People seem to be taking more pride in the flag since Sept. 11,” said Rosemary Weber, an American Legion member who was passing out flags. “Ever since that day, we have had more people come to the American Legion. They are trying to get a sense of community.”

Nearby on a portable stage, Weber’s husband, Steve, served as master of ceremonies for the event. A local choir sang “America the Beautiful” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and the color guard from Hueneme High School presented the colors.

The crowd stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and bowed their heads for a moment of silence to remember the nearly 5,000 people killed two months ago when terrorists crashed four hijacked planes. Later, a wreath was placed inside the park’s memorial to Oxnard residents who have died in battle.

To a round of hearty cheers, Steve Weber stepped to the microphone and told the audience that the attacks of Sept. 11 didn’t produce the terrorists’ intended effect.

“Osama bin Laden thought America was soft,” Weber said. “He was wrong. America will not back down.”

Wearing the same tan 1st Cavalry Army uniform he donned during World War II, Oxnard resident Davison listened to the speeches and slowly shook his head. Flag waving, speeches, wars--nothing seems to change, Davison said.

If the war drags on, Davison wonders whether the latest generation will have the mettle to stick with it.

“There are a lot of bad people in the world,” Davison said. “I’m afraid it will be, ‘Hell no, we won’t go,’ when it gets right down to it.”

A few yards away, Ventura resident Dennis Hoffman stood near the park’s war memorial in a cool drizzle. He tugged on his worn leather motorcycle jacket and ran a hand through his thick salt-and-pepper beard. A member of a Vietnam veterans motorcycle club, Hoffman long ago traded his military crew cut for a long ponytail.

When he was in the Army in Vietnam in the late 1960s, people weren’t waving flags or attaching them to their cars on the home front like so many are doing now, Hoffman noted. But that didn’t make his work in the jungles of Vietnam any less patriotic, he said.

“I came from a family of veterans. I was proud to go to Vietnam,” said Hoffman, a retired graphic artist who served as an Army combat engineer. “It didn’t take Sept. 11 to make me proud to be an American.”

Sunday wasn’t the last of the events in Ventura County to honor veterans.

Today at 10:30 a.m., a service and remembrance will be held at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura. The service will include a keynote address by H. Delano Roosevelt, the grandson of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a flyover by World War II-era planes.

As for the weather, the storm that pelted Ventura County on Sunday will be replaced by a stronger and cooler system that should reach the area by this afternoon, said Bonnie Bartling of the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office.

She said the Sunday storm dropped nearly half an inch of rain in Ventura County. The next storm should bring nearly an inch to the area with highs in the mid-60s and lows in the high 40s and low 50s. Tuesday should see a return to clear skies and slightly warmer temperatures, Bartling said.