| Our veterans
memorial honors service personnel from Westchester and Playa Del Rey who lost
their lives in the war of South East Asia (Viet Nam). The memorial
is located on the corner of Lincoln and Manchester adjacent to the
park and community center and was in response to the late Margaret Pugh's interest to
erect a monument to honor those who died during the conflict.
  Al
Ferrer, David Goure, George Heap, and Martha Shaw selected the Lincoln/Manchester site. On November 11, 1970, the first
Veterans Day Program was held at this location.
In 1972, a group of 17 interested citizens met, developed by-laws, and conducted
fundraising activities to erect a monument at the site. In 1974, the Citizen for the Veterans Memorial Committee was
established and later that year the monument, a sun dial and two permanent benches were put in place. Twenty-five names of local service personnel are engraved on the monument.
In the years
following, a new tree was planted and dedicated to the memory of Col. Roosevelt Hestle, POW MIA. The host advisor was
General Jimmy Doolittle. On this special occasion, the local press reported that some 3000 school children and
community citizens gathered and were acknowledged for their sponsorship of the Memorial Project.
(Nov 11, 1970) Mrs. Herbert R. Roberts, mother of
Richard K. Roberts, photographs the memorial
at Manchester Ave and and Lincoln Boulevard. Her son's name
was the last added to the list of 24 men
killed in Southeast Asia military action.
The memorial has since
been moved to the front of the Westchester CD 11 Field Office about
a hundred yards east of this site because of recurring vandalism by non-local
students attending nearby Westchester High School.
Special acknowledgement goes to the Westchester Elks Lodge #2050 which maintains the
property and provides new American and POW flags and to the City of Los Angeles, Department of Public Works which
hoists the flag each day.
Westchesterkids wishes to thank Curt Curtiss and Jean Freeman for this
brief history of the Westchester/Playa del Rey Veterans Memorial. |
