Old Veterans Guard Appreciation Day

When in West L.A, do as our honorable Veterans do, and one of these Sundays, you will stumble upon “Veterans Freedom Plaza”. It is situated right outside the VA West Los Angeles Medical Center, where the l-405 meets Wilshire Boulevard and where corruption and dereliction of duty towards our homeless Veterans meet their Waterloo.

In this historic place, members of the Old Veterans Guard (OVG) from World War II, Korea and Vietnam Wars have been gathering every Sunday since March 9, 2008 to protest the misuse of VA land and the abuse of our war-injured homeless Veterans”. Paraphrasing the title of Robert Rosebrock´s article “Veterans Appreciation Day”, there has never been a better time and a better day than April 4th to enact a national Old Veterans Guard Appreciation Day. The irony of fate means that the Veteran who has never stopped fighting for rights of our homeless heroes in the country’s homeless capital, shares his birthday with L.A .-— incorporated as a city on 4th of April,1850.The very day in 1818,that the United States Congress adopted the flag of the United States with 13 red and white stripes and stars—one for each (20 at that time) states, and the very Vietnam-era Veteran born on 4th of April was cited for displaying two “napkin-sized” American flags on a fence of a VA´s facility. While Kafka, Orwell and General Patton were turning in their graves, the VA argued that Robert Rosebrock was guilty of the “federal misdemeanor”, because posting of placards on a VA property is forbidden, and isn't Old Glory… a placard?! There, in the smoke-filled courtroom, it was the Old Veterans Guard who stood up for our flag and for those who risk life and limb for more than “a placard”. Acquitted, OVG members were right on the flag, and a $13 million fraud and bribery scandal at the local VA proves beyond any reasonable doubt that they are also right on the hush money . Unfortunately, the FBI unlike the OVG went after VA´s small fish only, not the local piranhas and sharks who “share agreements” and misuse the 388-acre West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (WLAVA) property deeded to the government by John P. Jones and Arcadia B. de Baker “to be used exclusively by homeless and disabled Veterans”. Since 2001, WLAVA has been leasing land to commercial organizations and to rich and powerful cronies, even if their businesses have nothing to do with providing health benefits to Veterans. Old Veterans Guard has never stopped protesting against the breach of fiduciary duty and never ceased fighting for rights of our homeless heroes.

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Meanwhile, the local VA blatantly lives by “no good deed goes to homeless Veterans” and “no good deed goes unpunished. As Robert Rosebrock put it in “Veterans Appreciation Day”: “The VA bureaucrats, police and US Attorneys tried their hardest to prosecute us but more than 20 falsified arrests were dismissed / not guilty / acquitted.” To add insult to injury, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted “qualified immunity” to VA police officers who twice arrested Robert Rosebrock prompting Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton to call the decision a miscarriage of justice. Well, one doesn´t have to be a legal eagle to observe that the local VA enjoys freedom from accountability, but there is no “immunity” for our honorable Veterans who get harassment instead of retirement because they just won´t leave homeless brothers behind. Needless to say, of April 4th is Resurrection Sunday, and what better day to pray for the resurrection of integrity, compassion and freedom? And there's no better way to celebrate Old Veterans Guard Day, than to show respect for the sacrifice of our Veterans. If you'd like to wish happy birthday to Robert Rosebrock, you'd better bring a blanket for our homeless Veterans. If you give him clothes, he will most certainly donate the shirt off his back.