Moorpark : Woman’s Patriotism Has Deep Roots

Vi Johnson has always felt a strong attachment to the American military.

“I don’t know what it is,” the Moorpark woman said. “But I can remember in grade school, when I heard the ‘Marine Hymn,’ I just felt so proud.”

Military service is a tradition in Johnson’s family.

Her father served in the Army during World War II, and her youngest son served four years in the Marines.

And with older son Bruce, a 20-year career Marine, stationed on the front lines in Saudi Arabia, her feelings about the military are even stronger. During the holidays, Johnson signed 662 Christmas cards, with three or four sentences of encouragement on each card, to soldiers taking part in Operation Desert Shield.

Her patriotism isn’t new. In 1980, Johnson and her husband, Leonard, tied 52 yellow ribbons around trees and doorknobs of businesses in downtown Moorpark when American hostages were being held by Iran.

And in 1986, after she saw that no flowers were being placed at the American Legion’s Moorpark War Memorial, she began to make silk flower arrangements to honor the fallen soldiers. The memorial, at the northwestern corner of Los Angeles and Moorpark avenues, honors 20 Moorpark veterans who died in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.

“Nobody was doing anything for the Moorpark kids. I wanted to do something because no one seemed to show an interest,” said Johnson, 54, a retired florist.

About four times a year, Johnson changes the silk flowers on the two arrangements, one a large pot and the other a decorated cross, because of grime generated by the heavy truck traffic that passes the corner each day.

American Legion Post 502 Cmdr. Mario Silos, who negotiated with Caltrans for the corner property to house the memorial, said he does not know Johnson. “She just took it upon herself to do it.”

The current batch of yellow flowers is particularly poignant for Johnson, with her son facing a war that she believes will begin on the 16th. “I am fearful,” Johnson said.

“What the men and women need to know is that what they are doing is right. If they don’t think we’re behind them, that’s more of an advantage for Hussein. We need to tell them we care and hope they come home soon,” she said.