SEE PETITION FOR VETERANS LAND RIGHTS BELOW
==============================================================================
From the Los Angeles Times, Saturday, 6, 27, 2009:
Veterans group with a gripe upends the Stars and Stripes
Vietnam War-era veteran Rees Lloyd holds a flipped flag in front of the VA Medical Center in West Los Angeles. The group Veterans Revolution has for years criticized the facility's oversight.
==============================================================================
The so-called Veterans Revolution says the action at the VA Medical Center in West L.A. is intended to be a symbol of distress. Federal police may have another interpretation.
By Bob Pool , 9:29 PM PDT, June 26, 2009
This is one battle that will probably be decided by whichever side is most "distressed" -- officials of the VA Medical Center in West Los Angeles, or a group of protesting veterans.
On Sunday, demonstrators plan to gather by the VA grounds and display an upside-down American flag "as a signal of dire distress." They contend that agency policies have placed the VA property in "extreme danger."
But if that act upsets VA officials, protesters could find themselves facing off with federal police, who view the upended banner as a sign of disrespect to Old Glory.
For 66 consecutive Sundays, a group calling itself the Veterans Revolution has demonstrated outside the Wilshire Boulevard medical facility. The group has, for many years, criticized VA oversight of the 388-acre property.
However, for the first time last Sunday, the protesters flew the Stars and Stripes upside down as part of their campaign. VA police responded with flashing red and blue lights and ordered that the flags be turned right side up or removed.
The faceoff occurred at the end of the planned protest, so veterans "removed them just as we normally do and left peacefully on our own accord," said Robert Rosebrock, one of the organizers.
"The Flag Code allows when property is in danger to display the flag upside down. It states it is a signal of dire distress to 'life or property,' " he said.
The demonstrators were on a city-owned sidewalk near Wilshire and San Vicente boulevards, outside of the VA's jurisdiction, said Rosebrock, a 67-year-old U.S. Army veteran.
But the protesters entered federal property when they attached one upside-down flag to a ceremonial gate, insists Lynn Carrier, the medical center's associate director.
Carrier said she ordered police to the scene when she drove past and noticed another motorist shaking his fist angrily at the flag display. She said VA mental health patients inside the hospital grounds might also have been sensitive to "an inappropriate display on VA property."
The gate on which one of the American flags was attached "is unquestionably federal property," said Ralph Tillman, the VA's director of asset management for Los Angeles-area facilities.
Rosebrock said most passersby honked and waved in support of last weekend's protest.
He said demonstrators may return Sunday with more upside-down flags -- and perhaps an upright lawyer.
==============================================================================
Here are links to articles on the West LA VA situation:
"Shame on the VA Bureaucrats and Shame on Congressman Waxman
Westside Repubilcans, Kurt Schroeder, Vice-Chairman, and Anne Roesch support Veterans' Land Rights.
Link to Article, Vets Protest VA Lease Policy,San Fernando Sun. 6/18/2009
Here is the latest update on the Veteran Land Issue:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOLLOW PETITION ENDORSED BY WESTSIDE REPUBLICANS:
WESTSIDE REPUBLICANS
Resolution to Protect the Los Angeles National Veterans Home
Whereas,Westside Republican Members are loyal and staunch supporters of the men and women of our Untied States Armed Forces and America’s Military Veterans; and
Whereas,subsequent to the Congressional Act of 1887, landowners John P. Jones and Arcadia B. de Baker deeded 300 acres of land on March 3, 1888, under the stipulation that the federal government permanently maintain this Gift for Veterans only; and
Whereas,in accordance with the Deed, this sacred land was entrusted to the United States Government with the understanding that a National Home be established, constructed and permanently maintained for the exclusive use and benefit of Veterans; and
Whereas,The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) is the entrusted government steward and fiduciary administrator for the Los Angeles National Veterans Home, which is also referred to as the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS); and
Whereas,Congressman Henry Waxman’s 30 District includes the VAGLAHS and he is the elected public servant entrusted and responsible for overseeing and protecting the largest VA Healthcare Center in the nation; and
Whereas,Congressman Waxman confirmed in a letter to the “Wall Street Journal” on September 11, 2007 that “The legal deed requires the federal government to maintain the property permanently for veterans”; and
Whereas,the DVA and VAGLAHS have nonetheless entered into numerous lease and sharing agreements with various commercial entities and non-profit organizations over recent years to use Veterans sacred land and buildings for purposes other than serving or benefiting Veterans, and they did so without opposition from or by Congressman Waxman: and
Whereas, these special agreements violate the moral principles of the legal deed that requires the federal government to maintain the property permanently for Veterans; and
Whereas,the DVA and VAGLAHS recently entered into a no-bid sharing agreement with Veterans Park Conservancy (VPC), which is not a Veterans organization but a non-profit special-interest community organization, to build a public park on 16 acres of Veterans land, rent-free, even though the parcel is estimated to be worth nearly one billion dollars; and
Whereas, Congressman Waxman supports VPC and their privileged agreement to build a public park on Veterans sacred land; now
Therefore, Be It Resolved,that Members of the Westside Republicans hereby join the California American Legion, the American GI Forum of California, the National Veterans Coalition, Veterans United For Truth, the Los Angeles Veterans Advisory Commission, the Veterans Caucus of the California Democratic Party, the Gathering of Eagles, We the Veterans, The Veterans Revolution, the San Fernando Valley Republican Club, among others, who are adamantly opposed to any use of Veterans sacred land at the VAGLAHS that is not for the sole benefit of serving America’s Military Veterans, and Westside Republican Members further request the cancellation of all leases and sharing agreements that violate the moral principles of the Congressional Act of 1887 and the Legal Deed of 1888.
VISIT OUT TROOPS AND VETERANS PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION:
