Board member Gary Mendez, center, talks with veterans Jess Hernandez, Jr., left, and Raymond Luna, right, of Baldwin Park as Rio Hondo College unveils its Veterans Memorial on campus in Whittier on Wednesday May 20, 2015. (Photo by Keith Durflinger/Whittier Daily News)
By Mike Sprague, Whittier Daily News
POSTED: 05/20/15, 5:28 PM PDT | UPDATED: 1 WEEK, 3 DAYS AGO # COMMENTS
NORTH WHITTIER >> Rio Hondo College’s long-awaited Veterans Memorial was unveiled Wednesday before about 150 people, including those who have served and community members who support them.
The idea for the memorial dates back to 2004 when trustee Gary Mendez first suggested it. But nothing came to fruition until 2013, when members of the Rio Hondo Veterans Club came to the Board of Trustees to raise the issue again.
“I’ve waited 10 years and written my speech for 10 years,” said Mendez. “That’s how long it takes. This memorial will serve as a reminder that we should ask ourselves, Are we doing our best to serve veterans at Rio Hondo College?”
The memorial, which sits in the college’s mid-quad area, is an 8-foot-by-3-foot concrete monument topped with a brass plaque and bearing discs for each of the five branches of the U.S. military. Adjacent to the monument are a bench and U.S., California and Rio Hondo College flags.
“I see the memorial and its flags as a place where students can reflect on their past and their future,” said Robert Diaz, president of the Veterans Club, which donated the bench,
Diaz, who became the club’s president in 2012, said he went to a board meeting after discovering there was no readily apparent American flag in the newly redone courtyard. “As I surveyed our beautiful new quad, there was no sign of our nation’s most honored symbol,” he said.
After a search, he found one hidden in an area that was no longer a focal point. “I decided to examine the opportunity of moving the flag,” Diaz said.
Before long, he received a call from Mendez, who suggested not only moving the flagpole but establishing a place to honor veterans. Two years and $100,000 later, a fitting memorial is a reality, with a monument constructed by Quatro Design Group of Los Angeles.
Dominic Lopez of Montebello, a member of the Navy and a student at Rio Hondo, was impressed. “It’s very inspiring,” he said. “It’s very touching.”
Michael Felix, commander for Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10218 in El Monte, saw the memorial as a good idea. “We think this is really appropriate that (veterans) are starting to get recognized at institutions of higher education,” he said.
“Rio Hondo is really showing respect to all veterans. We know there are a lot of veterans going to school here.”
Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans founder Jose Ramos of Whittier likes having a memorial close to home.
“One of the proudest things is that it’s great to have it here in our backyard,” Ramos said. “It’s not in West Los Angeles or Santa Monica — it’s right here.”
The school also issued a commemmorative coin to celebrate the monument’s completion. Designed by Ygnacio “Nash” Flores, dean of public safety and interim dean of business, and Don Mason, an associate dean, the coin features the college logo and dedication date on one side and an inscription of the memorial site and the three flagpoles on the other.
