LT. BRITT'S LETTERS WILL HAVE NEW HOME.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

Odds and ends from around the Valley:

The love letters that Navy Lt. j.g. Johnnie Britt wrote his wife, Marjorie, from battlefronts all over the world during WWII will soon be going to the perfect home.

It's the new Veterans Museum, located on six floors of the federal building in Westwood - 11000 Wilshire Blvd.

This is where Los Angeles area vets come to sign up for benefits, pension claims, vocational rehab services and to join veterans' service organizations headquartered there.

``We would be honored to have these letters for the display case on our World War II floor so the public and veterans' families can read them when they visit,'' said Stewart Ziff, director of the VA's regional office in Westwood.

I'd written Tuesday about Marjorie Britt, an 80-year-old widow who wanted to find a home for all the war-era letters she saved. She said she's wanted to give them to someone who would cherish them the way she had for the last 60 years.

``But the more I think about it, the more I feel they should be in some sort of public venue, instead of someone's home where they would just be exchanging one closet for another,'' Marjorie said Thursday.

``I've been overwhelmed by the response from people who were touched by my story, especially widows like myself, who have kept their husbands' war letters, too.

``I've gotten more than 50 letters from people in just two days,'' she said, ``and there are also a few universities and service organizations interested in the letters.

``But a Veterans Museum where veterans themselves and their families can read them is perfect.''

If you haven't visited the free Veterans Museum yet, don't miss it. It is pretty impressive, even though it's still a work in progress.

It's the brainchild of Ziff, who wanted to find a way to remind every employee what the military veterans they're waiting on meant to this country.

That they should treat them with respect, not just as a number.

Each floor is dedicated to a war - from the Civil War on the second floor all the way up to post-Vietnam conflicts on the seventh.

It's a hands-on museum that includes a Korean War U2 plane cockpit and a Vietnam Huey helicopter cockpit that visiting youngsters can sit in. There's also a 9-foot replica of an Abrams tank from the Gulf War, a 10-foot high model of a World War I battleship, along with a real WWII jeep.

Accompanying the hardware are display cases filled with personal mementos, and walls covered in black-and-white photographs of GIs.

``Yesterday I had a woman send us her great-grandfather's original pension claim form from the Civil War,'' Ziff said. ``It's all incredible history, and Mrs. Britt's letters will fit right in.''

For more information on tour times for the Veteran's Museum, call [phone].

Let's hear it for Girl Scout Troop 2626 in Calabasas, which adopted a foster care facility in Santa Clarita and is working to make it a warmer and more personal place for kids who find themselves there.

``The girls know they have good family situations, and that these kids aren't quite as lucky,'' said Bridget Hirshfield, one of the troop leaders.

``They've been working on this project for a year, selling cookies and nuts to raise the funds for a big quilt they've made, to paint the walls bright colors, collect toys, and make special teddy bears for each child,'' she said.

It is exactly the kind of TLC this new county facility needs, says Dede Kuper, regional resources coordinator for the Department of Children and Family Services.

``The room the Girl Scouts will be making child-friendly is the children's reception waiting, room where foster kids visit with their parents, social workers, or, unfortunately, are waiting after being removed from the home,'' Kuper said.

Some colorful paint and happy pictures on the walls, a few quilts and lots of toys go a long way toward easing the fear and apprehension, she added.

And that's exactly what the 12 Girl Scouts, ages 11 and 12, in Troop 2626 are offering.

Finally, mark March 8 on your calendar for the annual A Walk in the Park - a 5K-10K walk-run through Griffith Park to benefit the Verdugo Mental Health Agency.

For the last 45 years, this highly regarded adult and child services agency has been providing vital mental health programs for more than 4,000 people annually in Glendale and the Foothill communities.

But like many agencies right now, VMH is looking at having to curtail many of its programs because of federal and state budget cutbacks.

Supporting A Walk in the Park supports the children and adults who desperately need these programs the most.

For entry forms and more information on the event call [phone], or e-mail www.vmh.org.