Memorial Day observance at Veteran’s Park, Redondo Beach. May 27, 2013. (Daily Breeze staff file photo)
Redondo Beach can trace its veterans memorial back to a monument erected in 1932.
In September of that year, the city’s American Legion Post #184 installed a plaque and monument at a small triangular park near the intersection of Torrance and Sepulveda boulevards.
Original 1932 plaque from the American Legion veterans memorial in Redondo Beach. (May 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre)
Post #184 had been chartered in 1920, just a year after the national American Legion organization had been chartered by the U.S. Congress.
The monument was part of a memorial program the post had begun by planting a grove of trees in 1928 to honor World War I veterans. It was located not far from the group’s meeting hall, which members had built at 412 Camino Real in 1927.
Redondo joined the list of cities that had established tributes to war veterans, most notably Los Angeles, which named its new outdoor stadium the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1921 to memorialize the contribution of WWI vets.
Eventually, the Redondo Beach legion post’s memorial was moved to City Park, the then-new 6.3-acre park dedicated in 1930 on the former site of the Hotel Redondo.
Wall at the Veterans Memorial in Redondo Beach includes plaques from the earlier version of the Memorial. (May 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre)
On Memorial Day in 1949, 90 trees were planted near the memorial to honor the city’s war dead. The memorial itself essentially was a flagpole surrounded by a circle of bricks located near the park’s playground area.
On Veterans Day in 1968, more than 300 people attended a ceremony that marked the official changing of the name of the park from City Park to Veterans Park.
The veterans memorial at Veterans Park in Sept. 2008, before the new memorial was built. (Credit: Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial Task Force)
In 1984, the park was given a touch-up in anticipation of the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. This included building a rotunda and stairway at its northwest corner, but, oddly, the steps ended at an iron fence instead of descending fully into the park.
Enter Ernie O’Dell. At about the time he was elected Redondo Beach City Treasurer in 1995, O’Dell was attending an event at the Veterans Park rotunda when he noticed the design, which seemed impractical to him.
September 2008 view from the rotunda’s iron fence down into the park shows future site of the revamped Veterans Memorial below. (Credit: Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial Task Force)
The current view from the Veterans Memorial rotunda area looking down toward the Veterans Memorial. (May 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre)
He suggested completing the stairway down into the park, and moving the existing veterans memorial to the base of the stairs. He eventually drew up sketches and designs for the reimagined memorial, and his plans got the endorsement of the Redondo Beach City Council in 2003.
O’Dell began forming a core group of military veterans that became the Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial Task Force. The group, which included John Simpson, Tom Lasser and several others, spent long hours fine-tuning the design and layout of the new memorial, filling in the details of O’Dell’s proposal.
In addition, the task force was charged raising the estimated $250,000 that the project would require, as the city’s lean budgets at the time didn’t allow for the expenditure.
The group kept at it for several years, tirelessly building community support. John Bogert, the late Daily Breeze columnist, was among those who helped keep the group’s goals alive by publicizing its activities.
The funding logjam began to break in 2008, when the city council agreed to fund $50,000 for the memorial if the task force members could match the amount with private donations, which they succeeding in doing.
A host of architects, engineers and contractors contributed their services at no charge after the council gave its final approval in 2009. The official groundbreaking was held on Veterans Day in 2010.
Construction took only 71 days. The task force ended up raising most of the $250,000 for the project, which was dedicated before a crowd of more than 400 people on Memorial Day in 2011. Total costs eventually topped $400,000.
The Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial, looking northwest at Veterans Park. (May 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre)
The remodeled memorial provides the kind of impressive physical setting worthy of hosting the annual Memorial and Veterans Day ceremonies and honoring the brave men and women whose contributions they celebrate.
This year’s Memorial Day ceremony will be held at the Veterans Memorial in Veterans Park in Redondo Beach on Monday, May 28, at 1:00 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Veterans Memorial Task Force.
A barbecue open to the public and sponsored by the neighboring Redondo Beach Elks Lodge #1378 will follow.
Sign at northwest entrance to Veterans Park in Redondo Beach. (May 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre)
Sources:
Daily Breeze files.
Los Angeles Times files.
Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial Task Force website.
Redondo Reflex files.
Note: Special thanks to Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial Task Force member Tom Lasser and to reference librarian Douglas Thompson at the Redondo Beach Public Library for research assistance.
See the present-day memorial under construction:
Here are the locations of additional veterans memorials in the South Bay and Harbor Area:
CARSON
Veterans Wall at Veterans Park, 22400 Moneta Ave.
CULVER CITY
Veterans Memorial Complex, 4117 Overland Ave.: Markers at entrance honor veterans.
EL SEGUNDO
Freedom Park, Mariposa Avenue and Illinois Street: Memorial to two Boeing employees killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.
GARDENA
War Memorial, Gardena City Hall, 1700 W. 162nd St.
Roosevelt Memorial Park & Mortuary, 18255 S. Vermont Ave.
HERMOSA BEACH
Hermosa Beach Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the Hermosa Beach Community Center, 710 Pier Ave.
Inglewood War Memorial Obelisk. (Nov. 2017 photo by Sam Gnerre)
INGLEWOOD
War Memorial Obelisk, located in a small plaza in front of Inglewood City Hall, 1 West Manchester Blvd.
Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 E. Florence Ave.: Contains a memorial to British World War II veterans, plaques honoring veterans, a monument to lost veterans not buried in the cemetery, medallions honoring each branch of the military and four chapels with patriotic themes.
LAWNDALE
Lawndale Memorial, east side of Lawndale City Hall, 14717 Burin Ave.
LOMITA
Veterans Park, southwest corner of 257th Street and Walnut Avenue.
Veterans Memorial plaques outside the Lomita branch of the U.S. Post Office, 25131 Narbonne Ave.
MANHATTAN BEACH
Memorial Parkway, 15th Street and Valley Drive (section of greenbelt).
The Palos Verdes Estates Memorial Garden at Malaga Cove. (April 2018 photo by Sam Gnerre)
PALOS VERDES ESTATES
Palos Verdes Memorial Garden, intersection of Via Corta, Palos Verdes Drive West and Via del Puente
RANCHO PALOS VERDES
Green Hills Memorial Park, 27501 S. Western Ave.: The cemetery’s event site, the location for the annual Memorial Day Observance, includes a veterans memorial, a flagpole honoring each branch of the service and plaques honoring veterans.
REDONDO BEACH
Veterans Memorial, Veterans Park, 309 The Esplanade.
Pacific Crest Cemetery, 2701 182nd St.: A flagpole on Inglewood Avenue honors each branch of the service.
SAN PEDRO
American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial, South Harbor Boulevard and West Sixth Street.
San Pedro’s Merchant Marine veterans memorial. (November 2016 photo by Sam Gnerre)
TORRANCE
City of Torrance Veterans Memorial, Maple Avenue and Torrance Boulevard
Ted Tanouye Memorial outside of Torrance High School, 2200 Carson St.:The memorial honors Tanouye, a Medal of Honor recipient and a 1938 graduate of the high school.
WESTCHESTER
Veterans Memorial in front of the Municipal Building, 7166 W. Manchester Ave.
