Etching their memory in stone

Josh Kleinbaum

Four new names might be added to the city’s Veterans Memorial during

a Memorial Day ceremony in May, including three soldiers who died

while fighting in Iraq.

Army Spc. Rel Allen Ravago IV of Glendale, Marine Lance Cpl.

Donald John Cline Jr. of La Crescenta, and Army 2nd Lt. Todd Bryant

of La Canada Flintridge are expected to be added to the memorial,

possibly as part of a new panel for soldiers who were killed in Iraq

and any future wars.

“As tragic as the war is, people need to be reminded of the

sacrifices that the military is going through right now, and has gone

through in past conflicts,” said Carvel Gay, co-chairman of the

Citizenship and Patriotism Committee of the Glendale Chamber of

Commerce, which cares for the monument. “This is probably one of the

best ways to do that.”

The committee has already received one estimate on a new panel,

which would cost about $8,000. Committee Chairman Don Biggs, a

battalion chief for the Glendale Fire Department, said the committee

has the money to build the new panel.

Biggs would also like to add Gen. Keith Lincoln Ware to the

Vietnam War section of the memorial. Ware fought in World War II and

served as general of the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, where he

died in a helicopter crash. Documents list him as being from Los

Angeles, but Biggs said he joined the service from Glendale, and some

military records list Glendale as his hometown.

Ware received the Congressional Medal of Honor for an assault on

four machine-gun units near Sigolsheim, France, on Dec. 26, 1944.

The committee will vote on adding the names at a meeting

Wednesday. It is expected to present the proposal to City Council

early next year. Biggs said the committee is targeting a May 31

unveiling, during the annual Memorial Day ceremony at the memorial,

next to City Hall, 613 E. Broadway.

“It’s a very special place for those of us who helped put it

together,” Biggs said. “It’s a piece of granite, and we know what it

was all constructed out of; but to us, it’s very symbolic.”