Proudly waving American flags, protesting veterans marched yesterday in front of the West L.A. National Home for Veterans for the 434th consecutive Sunday.
They are inveighing against what they vociferously contend is VA executives’ blatant misuse of the land instead of reserving the space exclusively for veterans.
Meanwhile, 20,000 thousand Los Angeles veterans go homeless every night, Mr. Rosebrock and his colleagues contend, because there is no space for them at the National Home.
For years, VA officials have rented out significant parcels of the yawning land to commercial institutions in exchange for handsome profits.
As often has been the case lately, skirmishes flared between the aging former military men and uniformed officers from the Veterans Administration, believed to have crackdown orders.
The veterans are charging harassment for a variety of reasons including handcuffing and confiscating flags and cameras among other conflicts.
The newspaper’s veteran reporter on veterans’ affairs, is leader of the marchers, the Old Veterans Guard.
Every Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4, the march back and forth in what they call the Veterans Revolution to redeem two causes: to “Save Our Veterans’ Land” and to “Bring Our Homeless Veterans Home.”
In his report, Mr. Rosebrock said:
“Yesterday (the VA cops) ordered us to remove our personal belongings from the public plaza, a non-alcoholic beverage cooler, Mr. Patriot’s jacket. It was hot.
“In the past we never had been ordered off the public plaza. I took photos of the 82nd Airborne Honor Guard bus, motorcycles and barbeque grill. But yesterday they broke many First Amendment laws.
“A different Sgt. Perez confiscated my camera and removed our American Flag.
“Wake up, America. This is Nazism 101.
“‘History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes’ –Mark Twain.”
Attached are some photos from yesterday … shows VA cop Sgt Henderson coming outside VA gate onto public forum area with our small American Flag posted.
Click here to see other photos (PDF file).
