A Time to Honor Those Who Died

Grizzled veterans wore military decorations and insignias on their chests and their hearts on their sleeves Monday, as they joined thousands of fellow patriots in honoring the nation’s war dead at Memorial Day celebrations in the San Fernando Valley.

Despite the presence of belly dancers undulating along the route, Canoga Park held an otherwise traditional Memorial Day parade that drew thousands. Topanga Canyon hosted an untypical veterans march for peace.

In Burbank, a dual observance of Memorial Day and the 50th birthday of the U.S. Air Force drew about 200 people, many of them veterans, to the city’s World War II memorial in George Izay Park.

A crisply turned out Air Force Lt. Col. Rich Wise was the featured speaker in Burbank.

Although he was preaching mostly to the choir, Wise reminded the crowd that they owe their freedom to the more than 1 million men and women who died fighting for it.

“We have learned time and time again that freedom is not free.”

Rep. James E. Rogan (R-Glendale), state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles) and Burbank Mayor Bob Kramer also spoke of the debt owed to veterans and the need to pass along the import of their sacrifice to future generations.

The event, sponsored by the Burbank Veterans Commemorative Committee, ended with a rousing rendition of “God Bless America” and the plaintive trumpet notes of taps.

“We need more of this sort of thing,” Florence Mast said after the ceremony.

A Navy WAVE and pharmacist’s mate during World War II, Mast fears the holiday is losing its meaning.

Memorial Day should not be just “a barbecue day or a holiday or a day away from work,” she said.

Ask veterans why they seek out Memorial Day celebrations and they invariably talk about their wartime buddies who didn’t make it home.

“I’m missing a lot of my buddies I knew 50 years ago,” said Mike Wurst, 74, of Woodland Hills, a World War II combat pilot.

Wurst flew 49 missions in a B-24 Liberator during the war, including an ill-fated attempt to cut off the Nazi oil supply by bombing the Ploesti oil fields in Romania. The mission resulted in heavy losses.

“Thank you, God, because here I am,” Wurst said.

The mood was lighter at Canoga Park’s ninth annual parade, where an eclectic group ranging from belly dancers to band members, moms to motorcycle riders, saluted Old Glory. The parade began at Sherman Way and Owensmouth Avenue, turned at De Soto Avenue and looped back to Owensmouth on Vanowen Street.

Local politicians, including Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick drove the parade route in vintage convertibles.

Rich Healey, post commander of the Woodland Hills chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, made his way through throngs of flag-waving children, lawn chairs and beach umbrellas selling tiny silk poppies to benefit needy veterans.

A Vietnam War veteran, Healey said people today are much more compassionate toward the military than when he served overseas.

“During the war, there were a lot of unpatriotic feelings,” he said. “Events like these help compensate for that.”

Michael Lewis of Van Nuys donned his Uncle Sam costume for the parade. His wife, Andrea, and sons, Evan, 5, and Alex, 3, also wore flag-covered garb.

“It’s patriotic and fun; it’s a family tradition,” Andrea Lewis said.

The roar of motorcycles and vintage fire trucks captivated wide-eyed Michael Miller, 4, and his brother John, 2.

“It’s a real nice way for us to spend the day,” said the boys’ father, Randy Miller of Canoga Park. “The kids look forward to it for weeks.”

The Friends of the Madrid Theatre and the city’s Cultural Affairs Department took advantage of the parade’s popularity to publicize the upcoming construction of the new arts complex and solicit volunteers.

Funded mostly with U.S. Economic Development Administration money, the $3.1-million project is expected to be finished next spring, said Friends of the Madrid Theatre chairman Deane Leavenworth. The arts complex, to be named after the Madrid Theatre that stood on the same spot in the 1920s, will replace the Pussycat Theater, which specialized in sex films and was torn down after being damaged in the Northridge earthquake.

“There isn’t a lot of culture in the West Valley,” said Marlene Willauer of Woodland Hills.

Laid-back Topanga, meanwhile, has its own culture, which was on display at its Memorial Day parade.

Five veterans, one with his long, gray hair in a ponytail, marched behind a “Veterans for Peace” banner as a band on a truck played “Lay Down Your Sword and Shield.”

The only weapons in sight were the squirt guns of children watching the event.

Hill-Holtzman is a Times staff writer and Vitucci is a special correspondent.