NORTH HILLS : Veterans Recognized in Golden Age Games

Nine San Fernando Valley veterans have brought home medals from the Veterans Golden Age Games in a competition that included more than 400 athletes from across the country.

Held this year at Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Administration Hospital in Lisle, Ill., the six-day event, which ended Saturday, included more than a dozen events for military veterans age 55 and older who receive care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The games, which matched competitors according to age and ability, included swimming, table tennis, bowling, bicycling and even checkers. The event is co-sponsored by the Veterans Administration and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Valley medal winners, who represented Sepulveda VA Hospital in North Hills, were as follows:

World War II Navy veterans Thomas Palmer of Van Nuys, 71, a gold medal in the pentathlon and two silvers in bicycling, and Jack Hoffner, 69, of Reseda, gold in table tennis and bronze in checkers.

Korean War veteran Frank Ellis, 61, an Air Force veteran from Van Nuys, a gold and a bronze in swimming.

World War II Army veterans Milo Hastings, 71, of Reseda, four gold medals in swimming; Sherman Schwartz, 74, of Sylmar, a silver and a gold in swimming; Martin Fishman, 75, of Van Nuys, a gold in bowling, and Murray Proper, 72, of North Hollywood, a bronze medal in swimming.

World War II Air Force veterans Abe Englander, 76, of North Hollywood, a gold, two silvers and a bronze in swimming, and Charles Snowden, 71, of Granada Hills, two silvers and a bronze in swimming.