Arcadian Luben Balabanoff, a Bulgarian by birth, was in Dresden, Germany when it was bombed during World War II. Retired now, he has spent the last 10 years making travel films and touring with them.
Ninety-three year old fighter pilot Edward J. Lopez publishes "flight of a Hell Hawk," his memoir. He is a World War II veteran and purple heart recipient.
A new exhibit at the Ruth and Charles Gilb Arcadia Historical Museum is about the Santa Anita Assembly Center, a temporary facility at Santa Anita Park that held Japanese Americans before they were sent to more permanent internment camps during World War II. The opening reception will feature speakers Osamu Miyamoto, Akkiko Nomura and others. Dana Dunn is the curator.
Decorated vet to celebrate 100th birthday. U.S. Air Force vetean Edward Lopez was a fighter pilot in both World War II and the Korean War. Born in Los Angeles and living in Arcadia for more than 50 years, he is one of the last living members of the Air Force's 365th Fighter-Bomber Group known as The Hell Hawks, a reserve fighter squadron in the U.S. Marine Corps. See hard copy in VF People.
Actor and activist George Takei, 75, famous for his portrayal of Sulu on television series Star Trek, will talk about gay rights and a childhood spent in internment camps at Santa Anita Park (assembly center), Tule Lake and Rohwer, Arkansas, during World War II. He will be speaking at Cal Poly Pomona on Tuesday.
Corey Nakatani, the only Japanese American riding professionally as a jockey in southern California, often races at Santa Anita Park, the same place where his grandparents were detained during World War II in the then Santa Anita Assembly Center. He is profiled.
World War II pilot Walter "Pat" Hollywood, a longtime Arcadia resident, celebrated Veterans Day and his 90th birthday yesterday. He was born in Pasadena in 1919 and served as an Army C-46 Commando pilot during World War II. He works out at the Fortanesce and Associates Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Center in Arcadia and walks for an hour at the Los Angeles County Arboretum every day.
Veterans group and Arcadia Mayor April Verlato celebrate World War II veteran Jack McEwan's 100th birthday. He was a pilot on a B-17 bomber from 1942-1943.
Interview with author Brad Pearson who wrote the book The Eagles of Heart Mountain. He tackles the injustice of Japanese-American incarceration through the exploits of a World War II camp football team. Article mentions many evacuees were detained at Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia before being shipped out.
Ed Inouye of West Covina, whose family was sent to the internment camp at Santa Anita Park during World War II, died on February 19th. He was instrumental in getting the government to pay reparations to some of the imprisoned families.
World War II veteran Joe Sciarra, 95, makes history come alive at Holy Angels School in Arcadia during a Veterans Day assembly. Other veterans in attendance were Julian Andrews, 86 of Temple City (a veteran of the Korean War) and Darren Parsons, 45, a former U.S. Marine.
Obituary/death notice. An emotional farewell to Arcadia firefighter Andy Michael Troncale. He died at age 52 of cancer. Funeral services were held January 30, 2012 at Holy Angels Catholic Church, interment at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.
Funeral services will be held today for Ernest Loebbecke, a founding chairman of Los Angeles United Way and a resident of Arcadia. He died of cancer Monday at the age of 87.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to support legislation establishing February 19 as "Remembrance Day" for those Japanese who were sent to internment camps during World War II. Locally, an internment camp was set up at Santa Anita Park.