Two years ago, a couple of old soldiers took on a mission.
John Simpson and Ernie O’Dell had shared a vision since 2004. Simpson, a former Marine and Korean War veteran, and O’Dell, a former U.S. Army Huey helicopter crew chief and Vietnam War veteran, wanted to give Veterans Park a significant upgrade.
The park had become a memorial to military veterans almost in name only. The park’s memorial was little more than a flagpole and some bronze work tucked away behind a kid’s playground. It had been erected by the local American Legion Post 184 in 1932 and largely forgotten.
O’Dell and Simpson were part of a city committee that considered ways to better use the park. O’Dell, who is also city treasurer, envisioned a larger memorial right at the foot of the steps entering the park. City associate engineer Cuong Dang drew a sketch of a new memorial that included granite pyramids surrounding a proud new flag.
And then, for five years, almost nothing happened. The memorial’s cost was estimated at $250,000. The city didn’t have the money, and fundraising attempts generated but a trickle of interest.
Finally, at a city budget hearing in 2008, former Councilman Chris Cagle suggested giving the memorial $50,000 in seed money. The idea met skepticism, but the council agreed, with one condition – that the veterans raise an equivalent amount within a year or give the money back.
Simpson, who uses a wheelchair, was rankled by the skepticism. He rolled up to the podium and told the council in no uncertain terms the money would be raised.
“I tell you right now, we can do it, and we will do it,” he said, his voice raised in emotion.
Thus was born the Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial Task Force.
The first thing it did was call in reinforcements. Simpson and O’Dell turned to the kind of guys they knew could follow through on what seemed like an uphill mission – fellow military veterans. A core group of eight men formed the initial task force and rallied together to bring the new memorial to life.
On Thursday, the first part of their mission was accomplished. More than 700 people gathered at a gleaming new memorial that represented not only an upgrade but a vast reconfiguration of Veteran’s Park.
The northeastern entryway to the park had formerly – nonsensically – descended smack dab into a fence. Now, the entire park opens up, with five granite pyramids – representing the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard – forming a pentagon around a raised flag at the foot of the stairway. The five pyramids also form a star at the base of the flag.
Lt. Col. Tom Lasser, a retired Army helicopter pilot and Vietnam War veteran and task force member, served as emcee Thursday. As he looked at the blue skies, the kids playing on the grass in the park, and the gathering of people around the beautiful new memorial, he invoked an old Army saying for when every part of a plan goes right. “I want to thank the great Sgt. Major in the sky,” Lasser said.
Lasser, who served 40 years, said he never dreamed he’d be part of such a project.
“You know, when I was 21 years old, I never thought I’d be in this position, to be part of a process and project like this,” he said. “With being a veteran comes a little bit of responsibility to do the right thing, as a former soldier and a retired officer.”
“I tell you, I lost some friends over there, and everybody who served has those kinds of issues and memories,” Lasser added. “This memorial means a lot to the community of Redondo Beach and to the veterans’ community. My dad told me once that a good description of veterans is that they are the fabric of this country – they are the thread in the flag.”
The initial task force also included veterans Peter Dabbieri, Herb Masi, Larry Futrell, and Chris Meyers. Futrell, a Navy veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, said every member brought a different set of skills to bear. Futrell, for example, set up their website (rbveteransmemorial.com). And though they came from every branch of the military services, the men shared a special camaraderie.
“We took on this windmill, tilting at this windmill,” Futrell said.
One key member of the reinforcements was former Army Special Forces “Green Beret” Herb Masi, who brought years of fundraising experience to the task force. Masi, a former investment banker, worked for years raising money for the South Bay Children’s Hospital. In 2008, he and Futrell put together “a dog and pony” slide show presentation, went out in the community and began raising serious money. They sold bricks, engraved with names of contributors or family members who had served, that would line the stairs and the memorial itself.
The project took on a life of its own.
“Everybody rolled up their sleeves and went to work, whether raising money or doing whatever else it took to make this happen,” Simpson said. “It was just like a big family project. I am so proud of it. It’s amazing how it came together. It was one of the best things I’ve ever been involved with.”
Everything fell into place. Local contractor Dal Covington, another veteran, donated the construction work. Architect Dieter Thomas finished the design, free of cost, and Ron Day of White and day Mortuary and Ray Frew of Green Hills Memorial Park provided the granite at cost. Structural engineer Darryl Martin and Sun Electric’s Jim Parker also donated their labor.
Simpson, who lives nearby at Casa de los Amigos senior housing, wheeled down to the construction site almost daily. Even the crew, he said, took to the project with a special gusto. They built the memorial in 71 days.
“It’s amazing, because it became infectious,” Simpson said. “The whole attitude, the workers, the construction people…Every day I’d go down to the job and it was like all high fives and everyone smiling and having a good time. And they worked like beavers.”
Finally, the very day before Veteran’s Day, the project was ready. Futrell drove down to the park late that night and was stunned to see the memorial aglow. He called up Masi and told him he had to get down there to see this. Simpson, of course, was already there.
“It was just so quiet and peaceful and kind of eerie,” Futrell said. “Almost spooky. It gave me goose bumps.”
A policeman who stopped to check on the site found himself committing to buying a brick: the mission, the men stress, is not done. They want to raise another $250,000 to further transform the park and to create a maintenance fund for the memorial. Already, the ROTC cadets from Redondo Union High School have committed to tend to the memorial on weekly visits, but the task force is also recruiting new veterans to continue their work after they have gone.
“We have a good start,” Masi said. “But we aren’t done.”
Late Tuesday night, after receiving a commendation from the City Council, Masi and Simpson went down to the memorial. Surrounding the flag are 24 empty seats that also resemble gravestones, honoring the many veterans who never made it home. The old Marine, sitting in his wheel chair, and the former Green Beret, sitting on one of the memorial’s seats, marveled that members of their respective military branches would ever work so closely together on a mission.
But even more so, they expressed amazement that they were among those who survived.
“We are surprised,” Simpson said. “We didn’t think we would be here.”
“That is God’s truth,” Masi said.
“By the grace of God, it could be me,” Masi said. “It’s so peaceful here. I could just sit here for hours.”
Simpson remembered joining the Marines with a bunch of his childhood buddies from Philadelphia.
“I am 79 years old,” he said. “But a lot of guys that were with me are forever 19, and sometimes I think about it and it breaks my heart. I just feel an obligation that I have to do more and speak more for those that aren’t here….”
“We all went off to boot camp together full of piss and vinegar thinking we were going to be Audie Murphy and win Congressional Medal of Honor,” Simpson added. “Then you get there and the reality of the situation hits you. It’s not about John Wayne stuff anymore. And you lose guys you grew up with, went through boot camp with – they don’t come home with you.
“You never forget it. It stays with you forever.”
For more information or to contribute, see www.rbveteransmemorial.com. ER
