Hollywood Salute to Gulf War Vets Draws Some Fire : Parade: Massive displays of weaponry will be featured. Critics fear it’s a glorification of warfare.

Order up enough military hardware to wage a respectable coup d’etat. Mix in the kind of show-biz schmaltz that only Hollywood can provide. Finally, bring in the real stars of the show--American troops just back from victory in the Persian Gulf.

And if all goes according to plan, Los Angeles will be staging a welcome-home parade like no other: Jets streaking across the sky. Tanks and missile launchers rumbling down Sunset and Hollywood boulevards. And symbols of America everywhere--from such vintage warplanes as the “Memphis Belle” to such vintage celebrities as honorary co-chairmen Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart.

But not everyone will love “Hollywood’s Welcome Home Desert Storm Parade,” a patriotic extravaganza scheduled for May 19. Controversy has become part of the pageantry.

The prospect of so much weaponry--from an M-1 Abrams tank to an F-16 jet fighter to a Patriot missile launcher--has prompted critics to question whether the parade goes beyond celebrating the homecoming of the troops to a glorification of warfare itself. Many anti-war activists question the taste of such festivities considering the war’s carnage and the continued suffering of Kurdish and Iraqi Shi’ite refugees.

That is one reason a contingent of war protesters also is planning to march. And that, in turn, has angered some veterans who have been invited to parade.

Yet the Hollywood types staging this event seem undaunted. It’s natural that everyone wants to get into the act; accommodations can be made. To hear showman Johnny Grant, the parade’s producer, tell it, nothing will spoil “the most spectacular event in the history of California.”

The parade--sponsored by the city and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and produced with the cooperation of the Department of Defense--is expected to attract a crowd so large that the LAPD is planning to assign more than 600 officers to police the event. A television audience in the millions is expected to watch via live and taped broadcasts.

Critics might complain, but Grant predicts that most people will understand that the purpose is to honor the troops and celebrate not the war, but its conclusion.

More than that, Grant suggested, the pageant could serve “to heal” social and psychic wounds left by less popular wars such as Korea and especially Vietnam. Veterans of those conflicts, many of whom felt unappreciated or scorned upon their return, are heartened by the prospect of marching in a major parade, Grant said. The Vietnam contingent is expected to be led by retired Gen. William C. Westmoreland. The controversial general, who commanded U.S. forces in Vietnam from 1964 to 1968, has accepted an invitation to participate, parade officials say. Some Vietnam veterans say they are honored; some want nothing to do with the parade or Westmoreland.

The ebullient Grant, a veteran showman and honorary “mayor of Hollywood,” also will serve as the parade’s co-chairman with Mayor Tom Bradley. Grant is vice president of public affairs of KTLA Tribune Broadcasting, a major sponsor of the parade.

Representing a town where hyperbole is routine, Grant predicted that the parade “will be the single greatest event in the history of California” and promised it will upstage New York’s ticker-tape parade for the troops scheduled in June.

“They keep saying they’ll have the mother of all parades. Well, if they have the mother, we’ve got the granddaddy,” he boasted.

If the organizers’ dreams come true, the spectacle would feature an Air Force flyover that could include the F-117A Stealth fighter and other warplanes used in the Persian Gulf, as well as a squadron of vintage aircraft such as World War II-era P-38s and the B-17 “Memphis Belle.” The Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration are weighing their requests.

Parade officials had asked Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the celebrated commander of Desert Storm, to serve as grand marshal, but Schwarzkopf said he would be unable to attend. Similar requests are pending with Army Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Major Gen. Walter Boomer, the top-ranking Marine Corps commander in the war with Iraq.

Grant is undaunted by critics who say the show of America’s arsenal will resemble the fearsome military displays routinely featured in the Soviet Union’s May Day parades.

“It might, it might. But that’s very popular--over there,” he agreed. “I just got a feeling when that Patriot launcher comes by, the people will go crazy,” he said.

There will be something for the entire family, Grant suggested. “The kids today, what kind of toys do they buy? They want to see this stuff.”

Given the sensitive politics of the parade, peaceful coexistence has become a goal, organizers and participants say. Peace activists who plan to join the parade say they too hope to avoid trouble. Some veterans have expressed a grudging acceptance of the peace activists’ presence.

“It does kind of bother me,” said Tony Monaco, a member of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America. “But that’s their prerogative to say what they want, as long as they don’t burn my flag.”

Maj. Jerry Broeckert, a Vietnam veteran who is the Marine Corps’ entertainment industry liaison, said he didn’t consider a welcome-home parade an appropriate place for protest. “It’s not a parade to celebrate the policy,” he said. “It’s a parade to honor the veterans. . . . Nobody hates war more than the guy who gets shot at.”

Some anti-war activists who intend to march argue that they support the troops while opposing the war, and that their dissent was an act of patriotism. Still, anti-war activist Jerry Rubin, who carries a business card marked “Have No Gun--Will Travel,” acknowledged that many of his fellow peaceniks were incredulous when he proposed that they participate.

His first overture to parade organizers was rebuffed. “It doesn’t look like it would be a good fit for us,” parade publicist Mike Teilmann said in a message left on Rubin’s answering machine.

Rubin--not to be confused with the “Chicago Seven” defendant of the same name--persisted. He argued several points: That anti-war sentiment is an American tradition; that peace activists supported the troops even though they opposed the war; that as Americans it is their right to express their view.

“We want to participate in the parade to put forth our peace message. . . . Peace people shouldn’t be left on the periphery, as outcasts,” he said.

Rubin was supported by the Peace Action Network, an organization of Los Angeles area anti-war groups. Grace Aaron of the pro-disarmament group SANEFreeze said she considers the show of military hardware “obscene,” but added: “It’s more appropriate for us to be part of the parade than to be simply a counterdemonstration--from the outside looking in. . . . We have every right to march. We are citizens. We do pay taxes.”

Grant and Teilmann now suggest that the parade can accommodate the peace activists. “The last thing in the world any of us needs is controversy,” Teilmann said. “But if we can make it work out, we’ll do it.”

Teilmann suggested that the anti-war group may bring up the rear of the parade.

Rubin and Aaron suggest that the potential for confrontations can be minimized by presenting positive, hopeful themes and displaying such Biblical admonitions as “Thou shalt not kill.”

The Los Angeles police “will plan for any eventuality. Hopefully, it will be a friendly event,” said Joe McGrady, planning officer for the parade. Perhaps a greater hazard, McGrady said, is the possibility of children dashing into the street to touch a tank or the F-16 jet fighter that will be towed past.

Meanwhile, some peace activists are considering a boycott and counterdemonstration. Activists affiliated with All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena are planning a candlelight vigil there the same night as the parade as a remembrance of the deaths and suffering.

The parade has already endured controversy by virtue of its relationship with Grant and his employer, KTLA Tribune Broadcasting, which is broadcasting the event. When Grant proposed the parade, the firm contributed $250,000 to the effort and secured exclusive broadcast rights. In addition to the live broadcast, plans call for a tape delay to be aired over Memorial Day weekend by more than 100 stations nationwide affiliated with Tribune Broadcasting. Other major financial sponsors of the event include Universal Studios, Eastman Kodak and Joe Kaufenberg Enterprises, a clothing manufacturer.

After rival stations complained, KTLA decided to allow its competitors to broadcast the parade for free.

The parade route is the same as the annual Christmas parade--a loop starting at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness, heading west on Sunset Boulevard, then north on La Brea Avenue and then east on Hollywood Boulevard. Several blocks are reserved as a staging area, and four ramps on the Hollywood Freeway would be temporarily closed.

Teilmann describes the parade as “a rolling history of the military.” Some participants will depict units from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War--both Yankees and Confederates. A few surviving soldiers of World War I have agreed to ride in the parade.

Hundreds of World War II, Korean and Vietnam veterans are expected to march. And hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Persian Gulf veterans are invited, representing the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. Armed service marching bands and color guards also would participate.

Fifteen floats are included. One will carry Medal of Honor winners while others will honor service organizations like the USO and Red Cross.

Several celebrities, politicians and public officials are expected to participate. Grant, 68, said he decided to stage the parade during a USO tour of Saudi Arabia--his 44th such overseas jaunt. While joking with some servicemen, Grant said, he told them to “kick butt and come home and we’ll have a big celebration.”

One soldier responded: “Yeah! Hollywood-style!”

This being Hollywood, “the parade has got to be spectacular ,” Grant said. The studios’ relationship with the armed services--each branch has its own liaison office with the entertainment industry--and the proximity of military bases have already led to commitment of several major pieces of hardware. Some of the weaponry and vehicles will be displayed in Torrance’s annual Armed Forces Day parade on May 18, the day before the Hollywood event.

Grant said he was disappointed that Schwarzkopf, commander of U.S. forces in the Gulf, will not attend.

A member of the Hollywood chamber group that determines which celebrities are honored on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame, Grant said he had hoped to preside over a sidewalk ceremony that would honor Schwarzkopf’s late father, also named Norman, with a star in the radio category. After achieving fame as the chief investigator in the Lindbergh baby kidnaping, Schwarzkopf’s father was host of the popular “Gangbusters” show, a shoot-’em-up that ran during the 1930s.

That event, Grant said, can wait for another time.