SEPULVEDA WHERE VETERANS DAY'S HEART IS.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
As Veterans Day celebrations go, the little community program scheduled in Building 99 at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center on Thursday isn't even on the same radar screen as the big extravaganza going on over the hill at the West Los Angeles
The cast of ``Star Trek'' will be in West Los Angeles. So will the Laker Girls The Laker Girls are an all-female National Basketball Association cheerleading dance squad that performs and supports the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team in both home and away matches. They also perform at many other events and venues. , Playboy bunnies and former Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Dodger star Maury Wills If our local vets want to see them, they have to fight morning traffic and drive over the hill themselves, or catch of one the buses leaving the Sepulveda VA at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Like so many veterans' services and activities at the once-proud North Hills facility, even Veterans Day isn't officially recognized there anymore by the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Affairs is a term of the business that deals with the relation between a government and its veteran communities, usually administered by the designated government agency. . Aside from a Veterans Day luncheon Monday - three days before Veterans Day - there is nothing going on at Sepulveda VA except this little community get-together in Building 99, the heart and soul of the place. It is here where three World War I veterans still live in the 120-bed nursing home. Where guys who got shot up in World War II and Korea - and whose bodies are now failing them - have come to live out the rest of their lives. They can't get on a bus and go over the hill to celebrate Veterans Day with the Laker Girls and Playboy bunnies. Most of them can't even get out of a wheelchair. So the community comes to them. The real community. Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops - not professional models and dancing girls See Opera girl . Local high school and church choirs - not Trekkies. Women and men from local churches and synagogues coming together in an interfaith effort to make sure the men in Building 99 who put their lives on the line for us are not alone on Veterans Day. All eyes were on the old soldier in the corner sitting in the wheelchair, Rosemary O'Rullian says. The colors had been posted, and the Star Spangled span·gle n. 1. A small, often circular piece of sparkling metal or plastic sewn especially on garments for decoration. 2. A small sparkling object, drop, or spot: spangles of sunlight. Banner was about to be sung. And the old soldier struggled mightily to stand up on his own to honor the flag. He failed but tried again. Failed and tried once more. Finally, shakily, he made it. On his own. ``He used every ounce of physical strength he had left in his body to get out of that wheelchair and stand on his own two feet to salute the flag and sing the national anthem,'' said O'Rullian, recounting last year's first Veterans Day program in Building 99. ``It was so touching and wonderful. You could see the tears in everyone's eyes as they sang.'' It is in large part due to Rosemary and other members of the Granada Hills stake of her Mormon Church The Mormon Church is a religious body founded in 1830 in Fayette, New York, by Joseph Smith. It is also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS Church. There are 7.7 million Mormons worldwide. reaching out to other religions and community groups from Northridge to Van Nuys that the men in Building 99 will not be alone this Veterans Day. ``When she (Rosemary) called and told me what they wanted to do, I thought it was a wonderful idea,'' said Patrick Gregario, VA recreation therapist in Building 99. ``The men were so enthusiastic and appreciative after the program last year,'' he said. ``Those people left behind a wonderful, positive feeling in this building.'' And they promise to leave behind even a bigger one for this year's program called ``Heroes of the Century,'' Rosemary said Monday. It begins at 10 a.m. in the dining room of Building 99. Many of the highlights of last year's show will be reprised, including medleys of the most famous patriotic songs from the wars these men fought in - all sung by kids and adults from the local community. Not Laker Girls. Not Playboy bunnies. Not Trekkies. Just regular people from the community taking time to say thank you to some forgotten vets on Veterans Day. There are a couple of other Veterans Day events you may want to check out. On Wednesday, the Woodland Hills Rotary Club is honoring nine local war veterans at a noon luncheon at Barbata's Steakhouse, 20001 Ventura Blvd., in Woodland Hills. The luncheon cost is $13. On Thursday, at 10 a.m., San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Post 603 of the Jewish War Jewish War can relate to:
One of the highlights of the program will be veterans Harry Fingerroth and Morton Wolk talking to some Cub Scouts about their experiences on D-Day. |
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