Veterans

The Exchange Club of Newport Harbor plans to line a scenic trail at Castaways Park with 1,776 American flags this month in honor of military veterans. “It’s a way for us to pay tribute to all veterans, living or dead,” said Exchange Club member Ed Romeo, who is helping to organize the display. The group chose to raise the flags in honor of year the U.S. Constitution was ratified. The “Field of Honor,” as the Exchange Club has dubbed the project, is one of 16 similar efforts that will be sponsored by Exchange Clubs nationwide this year.

NEWPORT BEACH — Kelsey Woo had no family ties to the military when she first competed a year ago for a national scholarship awarded by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. But today she feels much closer to the nation's men and women in uniform. "I really have a deeper appreciation for all that they've sacrificed," said the 18-year-old Newport Beach resident. Last year, Woo made it to the state finals of the speech writing contest, but fell short of winning the VFW's $30,000 T.C. Selman Memorial Scholarship.

Coral Wilson Memorial Day is not just about sleeping in, barbecues and yard sales. "It is a day of reverence, reflection, prayer and patriotism," Costa Mesa Councilman Allan Mansoor said Monday at the 49th annual Memorial Day Services at Harbor Lawn Memorial Park and Mt. Olive Cemetery. Hundreds gathered on the vast lawn near veteran's graves, which were decorated with flags and flowers, to remember those who fought for their country. A special program of entertainment, commemoration and dedication honored those veterans, said Harold Hohl, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post 3536.

CORONA DEL MAR — In a sea of teenagers, veterans from the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy stood out every few feet along long tables that filled up the Corona Del Mar High School gym. The veterans wore suits and ties or regular clothes, and a few were in full uniform. They represented World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq wars. One of them said he served in a "we-weren't-there" conflict in Latin America. One man served under Gen. George Patton in the Battle of the Bulge, another was a Pearl Harbor survivor and another, Walter Ehlers, was a Medal of Honor recipient.

N icole Irigoyen, a senior at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa, has been spending quite a bit of time in a different sort of place for her senior class project. It's depressing but at times uplifting. The sad stories come at her full force, but so do the encouraging ones. The sight of the number of wheelchairs can be daunting, and yet they serve as testimony to survival. In short, it's the Living Community Center at the Long Beach VA Medical Center, and Irigoyen has caught the volunteer bug there.

COSTA MESA — It took Harold "Bud" Hohl 22 years in the Marines, nearly 40 years leading a remembrance ceremony, and seven years working on plans for a memorial to get to this day. For some time, he's wanted to get the city a more substantial monument to veterans than the cannon that was installed at Harbor Lawn-Mount Olive Memorial Park in 1954. Today he's closer to his goal, but Hohl isn't finished. As a young man, after four and a half years working in the copper mines of Bisbee, Ariz.

Although the number of Pearl Harbor veterans continues to dwindle, it doesn't mean they'll be forgotten, at least not in Newport Beach. The tall ship Lynx, a 122-foot topsail schooner based in Newport Beach, will host a remembrance of Pearl Harbor on Thursday that includes laying a wreath in the Pacific Ocean and a cannon salute. The educational foundation that runs the Lynx is looking for World War II veterans to participate in the ceremony, which is in its fifth year, but they're often tough to find.

The Newport Boat Show kicked off Wednesday by honoring six veterans from one of the most celebrated boats in U.S. Navy history. Six men who served on the U.S. battleship Missouri ? the site of the formal Japanese surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, to end World War II ? were presented with plaques at a ceremony held amid the hundreds of yachts on display at the Newport Boat Show. "They're veterans and they're a part of history," said Jim Bras, national chairman of legislative affairs for the Navy League, a group founded by President Theodore Roosevelt to educate the public about naval matters.

Emily Morris learned a great deal about veterans for her project at Corona del Mar High School. For one thing, she learned that she had one in the family. The 10th-grader had recently been assigned to interview a veteran for her English class, which was in the midst of reading John Knowles' wartime novel "A Separate Peace." Then her great-uncle came to visit from the East coast and told her that he had fought with the U.S. Army in Korea. Emily's group filmed an interview with him, and their DVD was one of more than 50 that the Corona del Mar sophomore class handed in last week.

The Orange County Fair Board has promoted Jerome Hoban, vice president of operations, to the fairgrounds chief executive officer. Hoban, 38, will take over as interim CEO for Steven Beazley on Tuesday. He will take over the position permanently pending a background check. UPDATE: [This version clarifies that the position is an interim one for now.] "What I liked about Jerome is he has institutional knowledge of the fair history," said Fair Board member Stan Tkaczyk.

Dan Huston, a Laguna Beach resident, community advocate and World War II veteran, has died. He was 90. As an active member of the Freedom Committee of Orange County, a group of veterans from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, Huston was a frequent and lively speaker at Laguna and Newport-Mesa Unified schools and community events. He died at Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach on March 15, eight days shy of his 91st birthday and hours before he was scheduled to share his war experiences with students at Corona del Mar high school.

George Ciampa remembers crossing the English Channel to the shores of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, then waiting to disembark his ship. "There was 4,000 ships out there," he said. "You could see ships getting hit, bodies and debris in the water, and you're waiting for your turn to get off. You're hearing the shells zooming overhead. " When the 18-year-old finally got onto a small landing craft to take him to the beach, the scene was frantic. He had a rifle, but his job was to pick up the dead.

Sit 'n Sleep and the California Department of Veterans Affairs have teamed up to provide veterans with jobs at Southern California stores, the mattress retailer announced this week. Stores in Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, Anaheim and Laguna Hills will be among the locations hiring clerical, sales and warehouse positions, according to a news release. In all, about 50 positions will be filled by veterans across Southern California. "We strive to give back to the veterans who have given so much for us and help provide a job to return to after so bravely serving our country," said Larry Miller, chairman and executive officer of the Gardena-based Sit 'n Sleep.

Pictures of delicate blossoms, children innocently kissing and elaborately gowned women grace the walls of Ivan Eugene "Danny" Dan's Costa Mesa home. The framed pictures, bursting with color and romance, are not as they first appear. Rather than oil paints and brush strokes, the nuanced shading and detail that form the images are from tightly interwoven threads from countless skillfully placed needlepoint stitches. Perhaps even more astonishing to those unfamiliar with Dan, a retired operator of a Newport Beach automotive detailing and wax business, is that he is the artist.

The Costa Mesa Police Department has selected a captain to fill a position left vacant for more than a year. Lt. Allen Huggins was chosen from six internal candidates, according to Police Chief Tom Gazsi. He will share second-in-command duties with the department's other captain, Les Gogerty. Huggins is a 25-year veteran of the force. He will be leaving his position in the Professional Standards Unit, which deals with internal affairs, Gazsi said. Huggins' promotion takes effect Sunday, as will other changes, Lt. Bryan Glass announced Thursday.

If a suspect were to take off on foot in a 26.2-mile pursuit, Paul Sarris would likely be able to catch him. The 34-year-old patrol officer for the Newport Beach Police Department won the Surf City USA Marathon in Huntington Beach, beating last year's winner by nearly five minutes at  2:30:09 in his first-ever marathon-length race. Update: This adds Paul Sarris' time. Sarris, an Aliso Viejo resident and nine-year veteran of the Newport force, competed for the University of Iowa.

As community college budgets continue to decline and the statewide conversation of changing the colleges' purpose continues, Andrew C. Jones doesn't see the situation for education getting better for several more years. Still, the 62-year-old Coast Community College District chancellor took the top spot despite everything and believes the district can be successful and thrive in this environment. "The thing about it is, it's exciting - it's full of opportunity," he said.

Dreaming of a white Christmas in sunny Southern California? To see snow really fall in Costa Mesa, just buy a ticket for one of the holiday season's hottest tickets: the Broadway musical version of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The tale of two talented World War II Army buddies who make it big on Broadway, find their true loves, then help their former commander save a dilapidated New England inn has become an American classic. The musical version of "White Christmas," which debuted in San Francisco in 2004, shares the 1954 Bing Crosby film's plot, but takes divergences in plot details and in musical numbers.

An Irvine man accused of throwing his son overboard during a Newport Harbor cruise has been denied access to a court program responsible for combat veterans. Sloan Steven Briles, 35, appeared in Orange County Combat Veterans Court on Tuesday, where a judge told him that he would be tried in a civilian criminal court for the Aug. 28 incident, confirmed Orange County Superior Court spokeswoman Carole Levitzky. The court is geared toward combat veterans who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, drug addiction or other long-term issues.