COUNTYWIDE : 54th Annual Service Honors War Veterans

Under a gray dome of clouds, 3,000 knee-high wooden crosses and tiny American flags dotted Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton on Monday, where hundreds of people came to honor veterans buried there.

In the center of the park, near the slender stone monument dedicated to the country’s fighting men and women, about 500 people assembled for the 54th annual Memorial Day ceremony, the longest-running annual Memorial Day observance in the county.

“I am proud to be here,” said Tex Powell, a resident of Fullerton and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who was stationed in Germany from 1951 to 1954. “I think we keep a strong country if we recognize our veterans who fought for freedom.”

Powell said he has attended almost every Memorial Day ceremony held at the park since he moved to Fullerton in 1960.

“Things like this are what really keep veterans together,” said Powell, a member of the American Legion chapter in Fullerton. “This brings back memories, many good memories. I would not miss this.”

Similar scenes were repeated throughout Southern California on Monday. Veterans of all wars, including comedian Martha Raye, who entertained troops during World War II, were honored at the Veterans Administration’s National Cemetery in Westwood.

In Fullerton, the crowd sat silently facing the monument and listening to a roll call of names of veterans who had been buried at the park since last year’s ceremony.

One at a time, representatives from 17 veterans organizations and community groups were escorted to the foot of the monument to lay wreaths near the inscription, “Lest we forget the service of men and women of all U.S. wars.” In the center of it all, the flag flew at half-staff.

“I think this helps people,” said Esther Bushay, a member of the Golden Wives of America and the Golden Mothers of America. In 1962, Bushay lost her husband, David, who had served in the Army in the Philippines from 1927 to 1930. She lost her son, Byron, in Vietnam in 1967. “I do think it is really important to have some kind of a ceremony so people can remember them,” she said.

For the first time in this ceremony, the veterans group Brothers of Vietnam laid a wreath in honor of those who died in that war. The wreath bore the black and white colors of the POW-MIA flag.

“There is a lot of pain” among Vietnam veterans, said Luis Rodriguez, a member of the group, based in La Habra. He and about 15 others wore camouflage fatigues and white T-shirts bearing the group’s logo. “We are still hurting from the bad treatment we got when we returned,” he said.

Rodriguez said many veterans of that war come to Memorial Day observances to remember their fellow soldiers who died in combat but also to seek solace.

“This is part of the healing process,” Rodriguez said. “Many of us brought out our families today for this.”

The day’s remembrance ended with a 21-gun salute by the Fullerton Police Department and the bugle sounds of “Taps.”