Variety of Events to Honor Veterans

Veterans who can’t attend a parade will have the parade come to them at the Sepulveda Veterans Administration Medical Center, one of several Veterans Day events slated today for the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

The third annual VA event begins at 10 a.m. at a parking lot on the hospital grounds off Lassen Street, and is open to the public, said Ron Vincent, public affairs officer for the facility.

The hospital treats about 250 veterans, who will either be brought outside or taken to vantage points inside the center, said Vincent. “This way they will feel they are not forgotten, even though they’re in the hospital,” he said.

Among those who will march to mark the 75th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I will be 90-year-old John Pollock, one of a diminishing number of surviving veterans of the Great War. Pollock, who lied to enlist in the Army at age 15, is one of two World War I veterans at the center.

In Hollywood Hills, fellow World War I veteran Clarence Bertler of Glendale will be honored at an 11 a.m. ceremony during the 34th annual West Coast Sacred Torch ceremony at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian will be the chief speaker.

At noon, veterans in the city of San Fernando will gather at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 3834, at 111 N. Hagar St. to dedicate a small park where the city’s various war memorials have been moved from previous locations. In addition to speeches and a performance by the San Fernando High School marching band, a local vintage aircraft group, The Condor Squadron, will be flying over the site, VFW spokesman Angel Perez said.

Mission College, which has a special office for veteran students, will hold its own commemoration at noon on the campus grounds, in front of the flagpoles at the corner of Eldridge and Hubbard streets in Sylmar. College President Jack Fujimoto, a Korean War veteran, will make opening remarks for the hourlong ceremony, said Larry Patino, veterans outreach coordinator for the college. During the day, military vehicles will be on display on the campus, and recruiting and POW-MIA information booths will be installed in the college’s atrium, said Patino.

Farther north, the city of Palmdale will begin its commemoration at 11 a.m. in Desert Lawn Memorial Park, 2200 E. Ave. S. Activities then move to the old Palmdale cemetery at noon, and to McAdam Park at 1 p.m. for the conclusion.

Lancaster holds its commemoration, sponsored by the Quartz Hill VFW Post 3000 and Auxiliary, at 10 a.m. in Lancaster Cemetery, Division Street and Lancaster Boulevard.

Those veterans who may have forgotten wartime cuisine also can attend the Quartz Hill post’s 11 a.m. breakfast, featuring typical World War II rations--Spam and eggs, and chipped beef on toast, two entrees also known by somewhat less charitable names.