Lest We Forget . . . : Memorial Day Observed Across the Valley

From somber services to flag-filled parades, thousands of San Fernando Valley residents packed Memorial Day events Monday, observing the day’s annual traditions and particularly enjoying this year’s sunny skies.

“We here know more than anyone that freedom is not free,” said retired naval officer James Tolan, addressing more than 250 people at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood. “We all have lost something in our lives in protecting the safety of freedom.”

Tolan summarized U.S. military involvement over the past 55 years during an hourlong commemorative service that included placing a wreath at the Valhalla cemetery’s veterans’ memorial, flying the flags of all four branches of the armed forces and a rifle salute.

Several at the event said such Memorial Day events play a vital role in reminding people about past wars.

“It’s absolutely necessary and important,” said Leland Newbury of North Hollywood. “Sometimes politicians forget people who served their country. Sometimes they forget certain wars. The only ones who take it seriously are those who served in them.”

Newbury, 64, served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War.

“I think for the very first time young people are aware that something took place,” he said. “If they attend something like this, they are seeing people who sacrificed someone.”

The ceremony was the first that Vietnam veteran and Burbank resident Ramon Martinez has ever watched. He attended the service at Valhalla because it is where his father is buried.

“I think this is important, especially for those people” who served or had relatives killed in a war, said Martinez, 48. “Our morale as a whole society seems very low right now. This can help lift it.”

Among the events intended to lift spirits was the annual Canoga Park Memorial Day Parade. Thousands cheered entrants who included a precision Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle team, the Funee Bunee Clown Club and area high school marching bands.

“We’ve been coming out for the past four years, ever since our daughter was born,” said Julius Green of Woodland Hills. “It’s really like a tradition now. She gets to see the community, which we like.”

Dave Fizz of Woodland Hills watched the parade with his wife and grandchildren.

“I think it’s a good thing to do on Memorial Day,” said Fizz. “Our high school and junior high school are in it, so I want to support them. I also like to cheer the Vietnam veterans.”

Later in the day, Dennis Duggan of Panorama City found an appropriate way to commemorate Memorial Day: He watched the world’s last flying B-29 bomber land at Van Nuys Airport and silently celebrated the efforts of the thousands of men who flew them during World War II.

“This is history,” Duggan said as the massive steel bird touched down on the Tarmac. “These planes did a lot for us in World War II and it’s good to see a piece of history for our generations.”

Nearly 100 history buffs and aircraft enthusiasts were scattered on either side of the airport’s runway Monday afternoon to catch a glimpse of the B-29, the type of aircraft that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II.

Two other World War II aircraft--a B-24 bomber and a C-26 cargo plane--also touched down in Van Nuys. The three planes will be part of a weeklong exhibit at the Airtel Plaza Hotel.

The B-29 plane, built by the Boeing Co. in 1941 as one of the most technologically advanced aircraft of its time, introduced pressurized cabins, computerized gun controls and the most powerful turbo-charged engines. The aircraft was restored in 1971 after being found abandoned in the desert near China Lake. Since 1973, it’s been flying around the country on tours sponsored by the Texas-based Confederate Air Force.

“You’ll never see anything like this in fighter planes ever again,” said Bob Freeman, tour director for the Confederate Air Force and a former World War II flight engineer and pilot. Freeman, 71, flew the B-29 during World War II.

“This was a heavy flying machine that took a lot of muscle to keep in the air, especially with the bombs and fuel in there,” Freeman said.