The “Greatest Generation” has no finer representative than the Chairman of our Board of Directors, Gwynn Herndon Robinson, Major-General USAF Ret.

Gwynn’s story is, in every way, an example of the American Dream. Born in New York City in 1920 to a family of limited means, he began his long list of accomplishments with a series of scholastic scholarships to the best known private schools in the East. He graduated from Choate in 1938, turned down a scholarship to Princeton, enrolled instead at M.I.T. where he joined the R.O.T.C., enjoying his first contact with the military.

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For many years, when driving down Wilshire past the Veterans Home area, I was saddened to see the old rusty fences and unkempt shrubbery along the way.

The sight was particularly disturbing to me because my Dad, who was a Spanish American War Veteran, was a patient for a short time at the old Sawtelle Hospital.

When I heard that the Veterans Park Conservancy wanted to spruce the place up and make it a place that veterans would be proud of—I said "sign me up."

(Rear Admiral Frank E. Raab served for two years in the Korean War and four years in World War Two with the Seabees. He has been a Navy Reserve Officer for 36 years.)

Harve Bennett is one of Los Angeles’s best-known veterans. Mr. Bennett, a veteran of the Korean Conflict and 13-time Emmy nominated writer and producer has been a member of the Veterans Park Conservancy Board of Directors since 1991.

Mr. Bennett has ties to our military that span over 50 years, as well as 65 years of show business experience – a career that began in radio, expanded into television, and culminated with four feature pictures that grossed over a billion dollars.

Harve Bennett Fischman, the son of a pioneer female reporter, was born in Chicago. In 1941 at the age of ten, he debuted on radio’s “Quiz Kids” and was soon a household name. The show toured the nation during World War II selling War Bonds and entertaining troops.

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My father was a pilot, who taught night flying in Texas. When World War One broke out he went overseas to fly missions in Europe.

In World War Two my aunt served as a WAC (the Women's Army Corp). During those years when I was growing up in Massachusetts, we welcomed soldiers from Ft. Devens to our country home. My mother rolled bandages for the Red Cross.

I remember joining others in placing flags on veteran's graves and participating in parades.

Many years later, my husband Don proudly served in the U.S. Army counterintelligence Corps from 1953-1955 in Trieste, Italy and in Vienna.

When we moved to Los Angeles it was natural (and a privilege) to continue my service by volunteering to support the mission of the Veterans Park Conservancy. For many years I have been active on the Board and am pleased to see that our ambitious plans to help our veterans are beginning to come true.

I joined the Veterans Park Conservancy Board of Directors to pay tribute to my brother’s service in the United States Army and to help build a memorial park that honors all of our Veterans with a lasting legacy for their service and sacrifice.

My brother served in Bosnia on the Stabilization Force, returning to America in 1999 to face a country that generally did not understand or fully appreciate the mission and the magnitude of terror our soldiers had faced.

My brother and fellow soldiers, greatly need a heroes’ haven where they can gather with fellow veterans and heal and re-assimilate together, in a brotherly and serene environment that honors Veterans, unites everyone with a sense of patriotism and educates all generations with a lasting understanding of the Veteran experience.

My father flew on combat missions in China long before Pearl Harbor, as a member of the valiant "Flying Tigers" Volunteer Group led by General Claire Chennault.

My husband, Dr. Milton Krisiloff served as a Medical Officer in the Navy, aboard a destroyer during the Vietnam War.

My father was from California but fought in the French Ambulance Corps in 1917. He was wounded and gassed and received the Croix de Guerre. My brother in law was in the Navy during World War II.

My nephew served in the Marine Corps in the Vietnam War and received a Purple Heart Medal. All of the men who fought for our country are heroes, and many have sustained injuries, both physical and psychological. It is up to us, the civilians, to help them enjoy a decent quality of life on their return to the U.S.

The new Los Angeles National Veterans Park should be a beautiful, open space for their enjoyment and serenity.

My father, Paul Maier, was drafted in the U.S. Army in 1943, after immigrating to the United States from Germany in 1937. Following three months of basic training, he was assigned to the 115th infantry and subsequently became a member of the 29th infantry division.

He was one of the soldiers who landed in the second wave on D‐Day on the beach in Normandy, France in 1944. His military experience includes being assigned as an interpreter with a G‐5 classification, establishing communications with German prisoners of war in advance of the Nuremberg War Crime Trials.

He was honorably discharged as a Technical Sergeant and cited for his service in Central Europe, Normandy, Northern France and the Rhineland. He received the European African, Middle Eastern Service Medal, and a Good Conduct Medal. His unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.

My wife Maggie’s American heritage dates back to the 1600s. Her maternal ancestors fought in the American Revolution. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her father, John R. Day, following his basic training at Fort Benning, entered Officer Candidate School. He was stationed in the Aleutian Islands during World War II. He was honorably discharged as a Captain.

Membership on the Veterans Park Conservancy board is not only a tribute to my late father and late father‐in‐law, but an opportunity to preserve, protect and enhance an historic property to honor veterans – past, present and future.

Just prior to World War II, Gerald Oppenheimer completed his secondary education, and then attended Curtis Wright Technical Institute.

He founded an aviation components business serving defense industries like North American Aviation and Lockheed.

The need for pilot instructors was so great after Pearl Harbor that he joined the Army Air Force Training Command as a civilian flight instructor at Thunderbird Field in Arizona. Since he was not yet 21 he received a waiver to begin teaching Army Air Force Cadets. (He learned to fly when he was 17 years old.)

After two years at Thunderbird, he joined the Army Air Force as a Warrant Officer testing and ferrying planes for the Air Transport Command. After the war he joined the active Air Force Reserve as a First Lieutenant and received regular Combat Wings instead of Service Pilot Wings.

He was recalled to serve in the Korean War and was sent to Austin Texas to fly F-84 Jets for the Strategic Air Command. The 12th Fighter Wing was sent to England and flew training missions over most of Europe. Gunnery practice was done in Tripoli. When his outfit was returned to the US he was assigned as a pilot replacement to Japan for 9 months. Then he was sent to K8 in South Korea.

He had flown 21 interdiction and ground combat missions. His work for veterans includes his position as Director of the Hollywood Canteen Foundation which was a group that provided entertainers who hosted servicemen and women on leave during WW II.

He has been on the Board of the Veterans Park Conservancy for over 15 years and has been a driving force in the work to honor veterans and preserving veterans' land for their benefit.

As a veteran of the Korean War, I was motivated to join VPC to accomplish a project which would be a "thank you" and a "payback" to those veterans who volunteered to serve their country and paid a heavy price to do so.

My second motivation was to protect a portion of West Los Angeles VAMC property from outside commercial development that would have provided no support or benefit to hospital-confined veterans. My father served for a short time during WW 1 in the Navy.

I have an uncle, Lt. Cmdr. William McRaven, who was at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th and stationed on the cruiser "Raleigh" in dry dock with its stern facing the channel leading to battle ship row. He organized the stern gun crew and shot down several Japanese torpedo planes flying towards the ships.
He is buried in our Veterans National Cemetery.

Both my grandfathers and my father were veterans. One of my grandfathers returned from WWI permanently injured as a result of exposure to toxic gas. He sought refuge in his garden. He celebrated life with his grandchildren by working the soil with us and sharing the fruits of our labor with those in need.

I serve on the Board of the Veterans Park Conservancy in tribute to my grandfather and all those veterans like him who seek peace and tranquility in the gardens and park-like setting of the Los Angeles National Veterans Park.

My father was in the Army during WWII. When I was little, every Sunday he drove us to Great Lakes outside of Chicago to visit the soldiers.

It is in my blood to continue the effort.

My service in the Army began in World War II when, in December of l944, I was stationed at Camp Roberts, California.

After three months of Basic training I was assigned to the "Camp Roberts Dispatch" newspaper as a reporter-columnist on war, international, political and domestic news.

It was a responsible and exciting occupation.... especially when reporting historic happenings of the time...from the Battle of the Bulge to the eventual European victory and Japanese surrender.

I remember to this day... where I was... and the exact time and place of those two transformational events and the thrill to type them out.

I received an Honorable Discharge in March of 1946 with the rank of Technical Sergeant.

The military experience made me grateful to serve our nation.

In 1918, my grandfather asked the NY City Parks Dept for permission to build a modest park in Brooklyn named "Alben Square" to honor his son "Bud", the first soldier in Borough Park to die in World War I. My father, Miles served in the US Navy.

I loved the memorial day events in Alben Square honoring the Uncle I never knew. My family name on the flagpole is an inheritance I will never forget.

The "Bud H. Alben Post of Veterans of Foreign Wars" has honored veterans for three generations.

After Pearl Harbor I volunteered as a bicycle messenger during air raid drills. My parents objected because I was 13.When I insisted that defending America was a family tradition, they bought me binoculars and made me stay home and spot enemy planes.

I enlisted in the Army Reserves in 1950 during the Korean War and served with the 77th Infantry Division. The same Division that Bud fought and died with in France. I was never called to active duty but I reenlisted for six years.

Working with the Veterans Park Conservancy is a privilege I will never forget.

My father and my husband served in the armed services. I have the greatest respect and appreciation for all those men and women who chose to serve our country so that we may live in freedom.

I joined the board of the VPC to help preserve the land that was dedicated to them and to keep it out of the hands of commercial interests.

I serve as a member of the Board of Veterans Park Conservancy in honor of Americans who have answered their country's call to duty.

My father, Henry Costales, served with the 89th Signal Company and XVIII Airborne Corps during WWII with decorations in the Ardennes, Central Europe and Rhineland campaigns.

His service, and the service of many other family members from that era inspired me to serve in the U.S .Air Force as a commissioned officer.

Veterans Park Conservancy is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the historic federal land in West Los Angeles for the benefit of veterans who have played an important part in defending our freedoms throughout our history.

Living in the neighborhood for most of my life; each time I drove by the Veteran’s Center I always felt that the condition it was in was a disgrace to the veterans it was intended to honor.

When I was approached to help privately fund improvements, I enthusiastically said yes.

Van Kelsey joined the Veterans Park Conservancy as a way of showing his appreciation for the sacrifice of veterans and their families. And he didn't have to look too far beyond his own family which was well-represented in World War II.

Van himself was in the Navy Air Transport Service. Brother Dick Kelsey was a Lead Navigator who flew many bombing missions over Germany. John Kelsey was in the Army Air Corps flying wounded soldiers and freight to destinations throughout the United States.

All the Kelsey airmen looked up to Uncle Charles Lovelace Mullins who graduated from West Point. Rising to the rank of Major General, he later later led the Twenty-Fifth Division. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he served under General MacArthur in charge of 100,000 American personnel in the army of occupation in Japan.