Fellow Veterans and Friends of Veterans,
Sunday is “Veterans Appreciation Day” to celebrate the legal Deed and Charitable Trust of 1888 that granted 600 acres to the Government of the United States to build and permanently maintain a National Home for disabled and disadvantaged Veterans to ensure that there would never be a homeless Veteran in Los Angeles.
On Sunday, in front of the Home between 1 o’clock and 4, we celebrate the Veterans “Promised Land.”
Correspondingly, we will hail and salute the benevolent Land Grantors, John P. Jones and Arcadia B. de Baker, as we are extremely grateful for their generous gift on behalf of disabled Veterans.
On the other hand, we protest against the malevolent bureaucrats of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and complicit politicians who have colluded to transfer these sacred grounds to special interest, non-Veteran entities. This has forced 20,000 Veterans to live homeless and hungry, making Los Angeles our nation’s capital for homeless Veterans, even though this is the largest VA Veterans Home in the nation.
[img]1735|exact|||no_popup[/img]The Los Angeles National Veterans Homes, 1892
Sunday will be a bittersweet occasion. It will be a noble celebration of the past history of The Home and a staunch protest of the present misappropriation of these sacred grounds.
However, we look to the future to restore the Veterans Home and to “Bring Our Homeless Veterans Home.”
We are proud to announce that the Metabolic Studio will be joining to make Sunday’s festivities a memorable event with lots of inspiring surprises, filled with spirited entertainment and delicious refreshments.
Veterans are grateful to Lauren Bonn, director of the Metabolic Studio, for her initiative to research and solidify the legality of the Deed as an irrevocable Charitable Trust with the production of the Studio’s “Position Paper,” headed by her attorney, Richard Fox, Esq.
We are proud to announce that two generations of Arcadia B. de Baker’s family will be there to speak about their legacy and their own promise to carry forward the deeded “Promise.” Unfortunately, Carolina Winston Barrie, the Matriarch of Arcadia’s descendants, will be out of town and unable to attend. Her oldest son, Winston, will speak on her behalf.
Nevertheless, we have a lot to celebrate on Sunday, including the ACLU lawsuit to take back our land. Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. is a plaintiff in the lawsuit as is Ms. Barrie.
We have a lot to protest because nearly half (47 percent) of all homeless Veterans today are from the Vietnam War. This is unforgivable as most are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, in frail health.
We also protest against those who have breached “The Promise” in the Deed, but also continue to breach President Lincoln’s promise on behalf of “We the People” – “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan”
President Kennedy proclaimed: “We celebrate the past to awaken the future.”
This is our theme as we celebrate the thoughtfulness and generosity of two families and the once-cooperating U.S. government that fulfilled “The Promise” 125 years ago.
We will awaken America’s responsibility with a vision to open an emergency Homeless Veterans Humanitarian Relief Project on these hallowed grounds while demolishing the antiquated buildings with a morbid past and rebuild a new, modern National Veterans Home to ensure that never again will there be a disabled homeless Veteran in Los Angeles.
Please participate in this noble gathering on Sunday,1 o’clock to 4, and join in the festivities to celebrate the past, and to awaken the future for 20,000 disabled and homeless Veterans. Bring your family and friends.
God Bless America and the Veterans Revolution!
Mr. Rosebrock may be contacted at rrosebrock1@aol.com