Comment
Rate
El Pueblo to Get New Monument
 |
| Williams Lansford, founder of the Eugene A. Obregon CMH Memorial Foundation, is raising funds for a monument to honor Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. Photo by Richard Guzmán. |
Memorial to Pay Tribute to East L.A. Native and Other War Heroes
by Richard Guzmán
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - City crews last week began digging at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument to build a $1 million memorial that will pay tribute to soldiers whose feats of bravery earned them the Congressional Medal of Honor. Ultimately, it will bestow a special tribute on a man from East Los Angeles.
On Monday, Oct. 26, earth movers began excavating a three-foot deep, 30-foot long trench at Father Serra Park, at the corner of Los Angeles and Alameda Streets, across the street from Olvera Street. The memorial, called the Wall of Honor, will contain the names of all Congressional Medal of Honor recipients since the award’s creation by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. About 3,000 names will be inscribed.
The wall is part of the Eugene A. Obregon Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial Monument. In addition to recognizing Obregon, who saved a fellow soldier during the Korean War, it will also honor the 40 Latino recipients of the medal, said William Douglas Lansford, a WWII and Korean War veteran and founder of the Eugene A. Obregon CMH Memorial Foundation, the monument builders.
The wall will be unveiled in December. Lansford said the final piece of the memorial will be a 20-foot tall structure. Bronze figures will depict Obregon and a fellow soldier, Bert M. Johnson.
Question of Approvals
Obregon was a 19-year-old Marine who, in a battle against a North Korean platoon, saved the life of Johnson before being shot and killed himself. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Lansford said he hopes the larger part of the memorial will open next ear. However, that timeline may be ambitious, said Cynthia Ruiz, president of the city’s Board of Public Works, who has worked with the nonprofit to facilitate the process.
While the foundation has been working on the memorial for more than 10 years, it still needs to raise the bulk of the $1 million for the final phase of the project. Only about $60,000 has been secured, paying for the wall and some flags that have been erected.
Although work has begun, some have questioned whether the project has received the proper approvals. In a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Jean Bruce Poole and Frank Damon, co-presidents of the El Pueblo Park Association, an organization formed in 1982 to promote El Pueblo, said the project apparently has not received a green light from the department’s Board of Commissioners. They also asked if an Environmental Impact Report was prepared and if the project meets conditions set forth by the California Environmental Quality Act.
Ruiz said the current phase of construction is allowed, and that the future, larger memorial will require an EIR.
“The final phase is a much bigger footprint,” she said.
The Obregon Foundation has gone before the commission several times, and received approval for the project about eight years ago, she said.
Officials with El Pueblo did not return calls for comment. David Louie, a member of the board of commissioners, would only say that the project has not received a final approval from the commission.
Worth the Wait
Lansford, who watched as the digging started last week, said building the monument has been a long and difficult task, but is well worth it to honor men who fought for their country.
“We’ve been working on this for years… and are going to get this done because they need to be recognized for their sacrifices,” he said. “People should understand that Latinos have contributed substantially, including their lives and limbs, to the welfare of this country.”
Huizar, whose 14th District includes El Pueblo, is a strong supporter of the monument.
“It’s easy for us in our day-to-day lives to forget the sacrifices that brave men and women have made to protect our freedoms as Americans,” he said via email. “This memorial will be a physical reminder of those sacrifices and a tribute to true heroes of our society.”
Even before the monument, Obregon’s achievements earned him several honors. He was the first Marine to have a ship in the Navy named after him; the SS Pfc. Eugene A. Obregon, which transports supplies for the military.
Heroic Actions
A July 2001 issue of Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines provides the details of Obregon’s heroic actions.
While serving as an ammunition carrier for a machine gun squad, Obregon saw fellow Marine Johnson get shot. He ran to his aid and tried to pull him to safety while firing back at Korean troops with a pistol.
As Korean troops approached, he picked up Johnson’s machine gun. As he positioned his body to shield Johnson’s, he began to fire again.
When he ran out of bullets Obregon pulled a grenade and threw it at the enemy. At that point he was shot and killed.
According to the article, before Obregon died, other Marines at the scene said they saw him say something to Johnson. After Johnson regained his health, he said that Obregon told him, “‘Bert, if we’re going down, we’ll go down fighting like Marines.’”
Contact Richard Guzmán at richard@downtownnews.com.
page 6, 11/2/2009
©Los Angeles Downtown News. Reprinting items retrieved from the archives are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or retransmitted without permission of the Los Angeles Downtown News. If you would like to re-distribute anything from the Los Angeles Downtown News Archives, please call our permissions department at (213) 481-1448.
On Monday, Oct. 26, earth movers began excavating a three-foot deep, 30-foot long trench at Father Serra Park, at the corner of Los Angeles and Alameda Streets, across the street from Olvera Street. The memorial, called the Wall of Honor, will contain the names of all Congressional Medal of Honor recipients since the award’s creation by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. About 3,000 names will be inscribed.
The wall is part of the Eugene A. Obregon Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial Monument. In addition to recognizing Obregon, who saved a fellow soldier during the Korean War, it will also honor the 40 Latino recipients of the medal, said William Douglas Lansford, a WWII and Korean War veteran and founder of the Eugene A. Obregon CMH Memorial Foundation, the monument builders.
The wall will be unveiled in December. Lansford said the final piece of the memorial will be a 20-foot tall structure. Bronze figures will depict Obregon and a fellow soldier, Bert M. Johnson.
Obregon was a 19-year-old Marine who, in a battle against a North Korean platoon, saved the life of Johnson before being shot and killed himself. He received the Medal of Honor posthumously.
Lansford said he hopes the larger part of the memorial will open next ear. However, that timeline may be ambitious, said Cynthia Ruiz, president of the city’s Board of Public Works, who has worked with the nonprofit to facilitate the process.
While the foundation has been working on the memorial for more than 10 years, it still needs to raise the bulk of the $1 million for the final phase of the project. Only about $60,000 has been secured, paying for the wall and some flags that have been erected.
Although work has begun, some have questioned whether the project has received the proper approvals. In a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Jean Bruce Poole and Frank Damon, co-presidents of the El Pueblo Park Association, an organization formed in 1982 to promote El Pueblo, said the project apparently has not received a green light from the department’s Board of Commissioners. They also asked if an Environmental Impact Report was prepared and if the project meets conditions set forth by the California Environmental Quality Act.
Ruiz said the current phase of construction is allowed, and that the future, larger memorial will require an EIR.
“The final phase is a much bigger footprint,” she said.
The Obregon Foundation has gone before the commission several times, and received approval for the project about eight years ago, she said.
Officials with El Pueblo did not return calls for comment. David Louie, a member of the board of commissioners, would only say that the project has not received a final approval from the commission.
Lansford, who watched as the digging started last week, said building the monument has been a long and difficult task, but is well worth it to honor men who fought for their country.
“We’ve been working on this for years… and are going to get this done because they need to be recognized for their sacrifices,” he said. “People should understand that Latinos have contributed substantially, including their lives and limbs, to the welfare of this country.”
Huizar, whose 14th District includes El Pueblo, is a strong supporter of the monument.
“It’s easy for us in our day-to-day lives to forget the sacrifices that brave men and women have made to protect our freedoms as Americans,” he said via email. “This memorial will be a physical reminder of those sacrifices and a tribute to true heroes of our society.”
Even before the monument, Obregon’s achievements earned him several honors. He was the first Marine to have a ship in the Navy named after him; the SS Pfc. Eugene A. Obregon, which transports supplies for the military.
A July 2001 issue of Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines provides the details of Obregon’s heroic actions.
While serving as an ammunition carrier for a machine gun squad, Obregon saw fellow Marine Johnson get shot. He ran to his aid and tried to pull him to safety while firing back at Korean troops with a pistol.
As Korean troops approached, he picked up Johnson’s machine gun. As he positioned his body to shield Johnson’s, he began to fire again.
When he ran out of bullets Obregon pulled a grenade and threw it at the enemy. At that point he was shot and killed.
According to the article, before Obregon died, other Marines at the scene said they saw him say something to Johnson. After Johnson regained his health, he said that Obregon told him, “‘Bert, if we’re going down, we’ll go down fighting like Marines.’”
Contact Richard Guzmán at richard@downtownnews.com.
page 6, 11/2/2009
©Los Angeles Downtown News. Reprinting items retrieved from the archives are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or retransmitted without permission of the Los Angeles Downtown News. If you would like to re-distribute anything from the Los Angeles Downtown News Archives, please call our permissions department at (213) 481-1448.
 |
 |
|
| Icons Magazine Coming | The Life and Times of the Sports Arena |
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of ladowntownnews.com.
Popular Searches
