ARLETA : Pair Say It’s Their Place to Honor Veterans

On a busy section of Osborne Street just west of the Golden State Freeway, in the middle of a row of small stucco houses, stands a house with yellow shingles that look like tattered pieces of paper--casualties of time as much as the recent earthquake. The house looks like many of the others, except for the 15 American flags on tall poles staked out in the front yard.

“In memory of all veterans that have served their country in its time of need,” reads a large white sign out front.

The rather imposingly named U.S. Veterans Remembrance Memorial is a small monument comprising the flag stand and a veterans memorabilia room established by two veterans, Joseph A. Crowley and William F. Knuth, at their home at 13645 Osborne St. more than 10 years ago. Crowley, 71, is a World War II Army veteran who was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. Knuth, 57, served as an Air Force medic in Korea.

They set up the memorial in 1983, in response to the suicide bomber attack that killed 241 American Marines and sailors at Beirut International Airport on Oct. 23, 1983.

Since then, the memorial has become something of a landmark that catches the eye of commuters who whiz by day after day.

In the year of its inception, the memorial drew visits from Olympic athletes, gifts of flags from Dan Quayle and Wayne Gretsky, and thousands of people during a veterans remembrance parade for which Osborne was blocked off from Canterbury to Arleta avenues.

In the front room, visitors can see the hat of a sailor who had been on the battleship New Jersey, which sped to Lebanon after the 1983 bombing.

Other mementos include medals, two brass artillery shells with “Verdun”--the name of a famous World War I battle--hand-tooled into their sides, and helmets from the two world wars.

Crowley and Knuth have played host to few visitors since the earthquake damaged their home.

Crowley estimates earthquake damage to the house at $32,000. The floor in some rooms sunk as much as three inches, cracks appeared on exterior and interior walls, and the ceiling of the sun room buckled and split.

In addition to their main activity--flying flags for deceased military veterans--the veterans also run up Old Glory for police officers and firefighters who have been killed, and recently honored those who died in the earthquake.

“They were a part of our Valley, and we are a part of theirs,” Crowley says.

In addition, Crowley and Knuth collect and distribute clothing, food and toys for veterans and needy people in their neighborhood.