Monuments in San Gabriel Valley, California

[MPage]

OK, I thought I'd post some little-known monuments near me. San Gabriel Valley is in the Los Angeles area.

 

This is outside the South Pasadena War Memorial Building, 435 S. Fair Oaks Ave:

 

 

 

Here's California Historical Landmark #385, at Washington Blvd and Bluff Rd, in Montebello, commemorating the Battle of Rio San Gabriel.

 

There was another monument a few miles south of this one in the city of Vernon, relating to a related skirmish, but I couldn't find it. I believe it disappeared.

 

Anyway most people don't know this one even exists.

 

 

 

Plaque reads:

 

NEAR THIS SITE, ON

JANUARY 8, 1847, WAS FOUGHT THE

BATTLE OF THE

RIO SAN GABRIEL

BETWEEN AMERICAN FORCES COMMANDED BY CAPT.

ROBERT STOCKTON, U.S. NAVY COMMANDER-IN-

CHIEF, BRIG. GEN. STEPHEN W. KEARNY, U.S. ARMY,

AND CALIFORNIANS COMMANDED BY GENERAL

JOSÉ MARIA FLORES.

 

 

 

 

There are I think three in my neighborhood; this one, below, is at Memorial Park, at Walnut Street and Raymond Avenue, Pasadena:

 

 

[LtRGFRANK]

that is one neat statue

[Jeeper704]

Impressive statue indeed.

I like those types of monuments, not the modern cr.. they sometimes erect.

 

Erwin

[MPage]

This is at Mountain View Cemetery in Atladena (above Pasadena); it is notable that about 600 Civil War veterans are buried there, which is a disproportionate number for such a small cemetery, particularly out here:

 

 

 

This is a little-known monument in Pasadena (near Orange Grove and Colorado). It's been there a long time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Across the street from the one above, on the north-east corner, is this flagpole commemorating WWI; back in the 20's it was in the intersection.

 

The campaigns/battles are listed above the figures' heads:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave]

I'll be darned! I grew up in Arcadia and had no idea about these. Have you seen the WW1 German cannon at the Sierra Madre Park in Sierra Madre?

[MPage]

I'll be darned! I grew up in Arcadia and had no idea about these. Have you seen the WW1 German cannon at the Sierra Madre Park in Sierra Madre?

 

Yeah! That one is nice. I didn't post it since it's apparently foreign.

 

[MPage]

I almost forgot this area's favorite son, General GS Patton Jr. General Patton was born in what is now the city of San Marino.

 

This memorial is at Lacy Park, 1485 Virginia Rd., San Marino. It's there because the lake which originally occupied that spot was a favorite of GSP's as a youngster.

 

In 1997 this monument apparently replaced the older one I used to see as a kid:

 

 

 

 

It's part of a larger war memorial:

 

 

 

There's also this statue outside the cemetery at Church of Our Savior in the nearby city of San Gabriel:

 

[Dave]

Yeah! That one is nice. I didn't post it since it's apparently foreign.

 

 

It's a nice German cannon, and would be okay to post because it's a memorial to all the WW1 veterans of the city.

 

Dave

[MPage]

It's a nice German cannon, and would be okay to post because it's a memorial to all the WW1 veterans of the city.

 

Dave

 

Here 'tis:

 

 

Names on the bricks are names of donors for the restoration. Location is 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd in the city of Sierra Madre.

 

[Dave]

Here 'tis:

Names on the bricks are names of donors for the restoration. Location is 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd in the city of Sierra Madre.

 

 

Very cool! The church in the background is the one my family has attended since 1979. I used to play on the cannon when I was a wee child. I remember back in the early 80s how the original wooden wheels started to rot away and then eventually rotted away completely. It was also the target of a lot of graffiti too in the 80s. I'm really glad they restored it like they did.

 

Dave

[Third Herd]

An author I know posted a picture of the flagpole on Facebook tonight. It is the Goodhue Memorial Flagstaff and was designed by Bertam Grosvenor Goodhue and Lee Lawrie. Goodhue designed the Nebraska State Capital Building and many other buildings. Lawrie designed the art and symbolism used inside and outside the Nebraska Capital building. This author has written a couple books on Lee Lawrie and posts photos of his work. Lawrie also did the artwork at Rockerfeller Center in New York and all around the country.

[MPage]

Honoring Desiderio by preserving heroic past

 

PASADENA - The Army's 67-year history with the Desiderio reserve center ended quietly, with no military pomp and ceremony to mark the departure.

 

It could be different when the Department of Defense, as expected, officially hands over the 5.1-acre site under the Colorado Street Bridge to the city next year.

 

Plans are already being made to ensure the transfer includes a tribute to the Korean war hero the center is named for and preservation of his commemorative bronze plaque.

 

"We'd like, if possible, to make sure the city gets control of the Medal of Honor plaque that contains the citation," said Jim McDermott, who is forming a committee to ask for public contributions toward the likely relocation.

 

"We thought it would be nice to take that plaque and perhaps put it on a stand in Memorial Park, where the other (wartime) monuments are," McDermott said. "We thought it would be an appropriate place."

 

It's been four years since McDermott sparked renewed interest in a heroic story many had forgotten, or never knew, just as citywide attention focused on competing proposals to reuse Desiderio.

 

Final approval is expected within weeks for a plan to restore 75 percent as open space, with nine units of Habitat for Humanity affordable housing on the rest.

 

Over the years, the Desiderio name somehow became associated with the vague idea it was the original Spanish description of the site overlooking the Arroyo Seco.

 

But McDermott, a neighborhood resident who often walked by, became curious about the name on the plaque, researched it, and reminded everyone of the Pasadena hero it was named for: Reginald B. Desiderio, captain, U.S. Army, commanding officer, Company E, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, killed in Korea in 1950.

 

David Desiderio, 67, who was a 7-year-old growing up on South Marengo Avenue when his father was killed, said he likes the idea of putting the plaque in Memorial Park.

 

"It would be great, absolutely, if it's going to be preserved for people to see. That's something I'd prefer," Desiderio said from his home in Alameda. "The only reason (the family) talked about taking it was we didn't want it to go out in a Dumpster - people come in and try to clean places up, and think, `oh, we don't need this any more."'

 

Stephanie De Wolfe, Pasadena's deputy director of planning and development, said there has been a lot of community interest in making sure the Desiderio name is "treated appropriately through the (transfer) process."

 

Though the Department of Defense no longer funds decommissioning ceremonies, De Wolfe said, the city is in the early stages of working with the community and the Army to plan some ceremony to mark the hand-over.

 

McDermott would like to see the plaque and Medal of Honor citation attached to a concrete base, "A simple, elegant memorial that people can walk up to and read."

 

The citation describes Desiderio's heroic actions defending a position with his company:

 

"In the subsequent fighting when the fanatical enemy succeeded in penetrating the position, he personally charged them with carbine, rifle, and grenades, inflicting many casualties until he himself was mortally wounded." His men went on, inspired, and held their ground.

 

Everyone McDermott has approached about relocating the plaque, including Mayor Bill Bogaard and the district's Councilman Steve Madison, has offered help, he said.

 

"When we get arrangements made and announced a plan, I'm sure the public will step forward and be very generous," McDermott said. "We've been waiting a long time, and I'm glad there's progress."

 

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/general-news/20101212/honoring-desiderio-by-preserving-heroic-past