TWO TOUGH VETS PERSUADE CITY TO DELIVER ON PROMISE OF '47 : WORLD WAR I FIGHTERS WILL FINALLY GET MEMORIAL.

Byline: Dennis McCarthy 

They were a couple of young studs back in 1945, off fighting the war to end all wars. It didn't, of course, but you can't blame Bob Myers and Norman Berney. They did their part, and more.

While Bob was in the South Pacific getting ready to sail to Japan with Adm. William Halsey, Norm was busy taking care of business in Iwo Jima.

Neither man knew what the World War I vets from American Legion Post 193 in Van Nuys were up to at home while they were off fighting World War II. They were too busy ducking bullets to care.

The caring would come later, about 50 years later.

Back home, the fighting forerunners of Bob, Norm and the rest of the vets at Post 193 today were busy forming the War Memorial Park Association with a handful of local Valley civic groups.

The association became a corporation, and the corporation got enough money together to buy 70 acres of land along Van Nuys Boulevard as the home of a future War Memorial Park dedicated to all veterans.

In 1947 - with bands playing, politicians making speeches, and a squadron of fighters doing a flyover, the War Memorial Park Association formally turned over the land to the city of Los Angeles for a public park.

In return, the city was to erect a nice, big memorial in the park to all service veterans.

The city got around to opening the park, all right - the Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Park - but it somehow forgot to get around to putting up the memorial.

Within months, the association had splintered, the corporation had dissolved - after a few years, many of the old vets who remembered the deal had either died or moved out of the Valley, failing to pass on the IOU to the next generation of fighters joining their post.

In short, the memorial plain got forgotten.

Until the night a few years back when Norm and Bob listened to the son of one of those World War I vets who remembered the '47 deal - listened to him talk about how his old man always wondered why the city never lived up to its end of the bargain with its vets out here in the Valley.

Bob smiled and Norm winked. If ever there was a call to arms, this was it. Veterans getting the short end of the stick from the government is just the kind of fight these two past commanding officers of Post 193 love to get mixed up in. And they don't lose many.

``Hey, let's go get our memorial,'' Bob said to Norm.

``Lead on, brother,'' Norm replied.

And so, these two old vets went back to war, this time with their own city.

The city, always an elusive enemy, did what it does best - ducked, bobbed, weaved and basically gave Bob and Norm the old runaround for a few months.

The city owes you a memorial, fellas? What memorial? From when? 1947? What are you talking about?

Don't you guys know politicians can't remember promises made last week? How are they going to remember ones made nearly 50 years ago? Sorry, guys. Maybe after the next war.

``We finally went down to City Hall and researched the corporation and the transfer of land to the city, then we went over to (Councilman) Mike Feuer's office with our research and talked to his people,'' Bob said.

Sharon Mayer, Feuer's chief field deputy, listened, and then she did something that should warm a few hearts in an election year. She acted in good faith.

Mayer hooked Bob and Norm up with Jim Andervich, assistant general manager for the Valley region of the city's Department of Recreation and Parks, who also figured a promise is a promise, no matter how long ago it was made.

The memorial is finally going up and will be dedicated Dec. 7 in a ceremony at the park.

Bob and Norm took the good news back to all the guys at Post 193 recently, then the two old vets excused themselves to go work on what they want the memorial to say.

This is it: ``American Legion Post 193 dedicates this memorial in honor of those veterans from the Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks area who served honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States of America during World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama and the Persian Gulf conflict.

``Some gave their lives, and all made sacrifices to preserve freedom and democracy for the peoples of all nations in a continuing quest for international peace.''

Those boys got some way with words. And they ain't too bad in a fight, either.

The city never stood a chance.

MEMO: Dennis McCarthy's column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.