Those Who Died in Wars Are Honored in Southland Tributes

Celes King III, a former member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots who escorted bombers in Italy and North Africa in World War II, had just finished one of three speeches he made over the Memorial Day weekend in Los Angeles in honor of the nation’s war dead. A member of the Assn. of Black Military Officers, he laced his talk with praise for minority servicemen.

After a program in South Gate on Saturday, two former white pilots who served in the 15th Air Force approached and enthusiastically shook his hand.

Said King, “One guy said to me, ‘Listen, when we came back from the targets and saw those red tails (the escort planes were painted red), we knew we’d make it back home.”

It was a touching moment, the Los Angeles bail bondsman said, recalling how the black pilots had to overcome much prejudice.

Similar scenes were played out across Southern California over the weekend as veterans and others gathered at local cemeteries and churches to remember those who died in war. It was a day of color guards, laying of wreaths, patriotic music and speeches. In spite of weepy skies Monday morning, many of the outdoor programs were well attended. Other ceremonies were moved inside and one was canceled.

One of the largest outdoor programs was at the Los Angeles National Cemetery where 77,000 servicemen are buried. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) told the crowd of approximately 1,000 that the nation’s fighting forces had inspired the recent democratic movements “from the steppes of Soviet Armenia to the streets of Seoul.”

Two of the state’s gubernatorial candidates were guests at ceremonies. While Republican Pete Wilson appeared at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, Democratic candidate John Van De Kamp was speaking in West Los Angeles.

On the grounds of the federal building in West Los Angeles, before veterans and supporters protesting cuts in Veterans Affairs funding, Van de Kamp vowed that policies toward veterans would change if he is elected. Van de Kamp is running against former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein for the Democratic nomination in the June 5 primary. Feinstein scheduled no public appearances Monday.

“We are here today to demand that veterans be treated with the same dignity, the same integrity with which they served this country,” Van de Kamp said. “We are here to remind America of a promise. And we are here to make sure that that promise is kept.”

Specifically, Van de Kamp told the veterans that he would increase by 40% the number of drug treatment centers in California. Basic medical and mental health benefits would be covered by a universal insurance program, new state veterans’ homes would be opened in Southern California, and emergency financial assistance would be given those in immediate danger of losing their homes.

While they were directed at veterans Monday, most of the proposals are part of changes Van de Kamp has proposed that would be available to all Californians. The exception--the veterans’ homes--have been approved by the Legislature but have not yet been funded, the attorney general’s campaign staff said.

John Keaveney, a veterans hospital employee who served in the Air Force in Vietnam, was one of those who attended the rally. Estimates of the number of protesters varied from 50 to 300. Keaveney had earlier in the day walked through the Los Angeles National Cemetery where thousands of miniature American flags graced the crosses. He said he had talked to a fellow veteran who had served in the 173rd Airborne in Vietnam. “He told me he had just gotten out of the hospital after a bout of meningitis. He has no home and sleeps outside somewhere in Topanga Canyon. . . . If this country wants to honor its dead, then it also needs to respect the living by giving them quality of life.”

Sen. Wilson, the expected Republican nominee for governor, joined several families of former Vietnam prisoners of war and missing in action at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.

Rain forced the noon ceremonies to be moved into a chapel large enough to accommodate the nearly 500 people who attended, but the wreath-laying ceremony and other parts of the ceremony were unchanged.

At Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Long Beach, Lt. Cmdr. Alan G. Carver, commanding officer of the Coast Guard Reserve Unit at Port Hueneme, told the crowd that peace should not be taken for granted.

“Let us not be lulled into complacency,” Carver said. “The Soviet threat may be less than it was a year ago, but other threats to peace continue and the only way we can assure that they remain threats only is to maintain our military, diplomatic and economic strengths.”

The annual Canoga Park Memorial Day Parade stepped off on schedule before a crowd estimated by police to be 2,500 along the two-mile route. Many of the onlookers were holding umbrellas, although the rain let up just before the parade started.

What was to be the largest Memorial Day event in Orange County, a ceremony for 10 veterans groups at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, was canceled because of rain.