Thread: VANDALS ATTACK VETERANS MEMORIAL IN ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA

Vandals attack tribute to veterans at Grape Day Park

By: DAN SIMMONS - Staff Writer

'Wall of Courage' official: 'We'll catch 'em'

ESCONDIDO -- The bronze statues and stone plaques on the wall behind them pay tribute to soldiers, sailors and Marines who protect the nation in times of peril.

Now, the statues and "Wall of Courage" at Grape Day Park need protection, too -- and are getting it from some of the very veterans they honor.

Vandals attacked the two-month-old tribute on or about Jan. 7, said police Lt. Bob Benton, loosening from its base a 200-pound bronze statue of a woman dressed in a pilot's uniform, tearing down a sign thanking the community for its support and tagging the sidewalk and one of the walls with graffiti.

The bronzed pilot still stands but wobbles a bit on her base and has a couple nicks on her left thigh and the graffiti was cleaned off by a city crew. Police have no suspects but are reviewing nearby security cameras tapes, Benton said.

Tribute publicist Marty Tiedeman vowed not to forget the vandalism and promised stepped-up efforts to prevent another attack.

"We need to let the vandals know we'll catch 'em," she said. "The victims are each of the people who purchased this."

The tribute is lit 24 hours a day and is under constant video surveillance, she said. During the day, it's patrolled by city park rangers. At night, security guards with the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, do roaming patrols.

And since the attack, the tribute has new protection: veterans themselves. A small group who heard of the vandalism has taken turns keeping vigil in front of the tribute overnight, Tiedeman said.

"He feels real responsible for it," Tiedeman said of one of the veterans.

The tribute, dedicated last Nov. 11, arose out of similar grass-roots community support, she said.

A class of special education students at Oak Hill Elementary in Escondido had the idea for the tribute, and spent more than three years collecting 1 million pennies to pay for a part of the $125,000 project. Veterans organizations, private philanthropists and the Escondido City Council contributed the rest of the funds.

Artist Gale Pruitt spent at least six days a week for a year designing and sculpting the statues, she said. They sit on a blue granite base dug from National Quarry in San Marcos. It coincidentally weighs 911 pounds, which Pruitt's husband, Bob, said only reinforces the patriotic feel.

"Here's three veterans standing on something that weighs 911 (pounds)," he said. A plaque is planned to explain the coincidence, he said.

The bronze female pilot stands both for the contribution of military women and for all veterans who served in the past, Gale Pruitt explained at its unveiling last November on Veterans Day. Next to the woman is a tall man in combat dress, representing everyone now serving in the armed services. That soldier's left arm is outstretched toward a young man wearing an ROTC uniform.

Pruitt explained that the outstretched arm has its own meaning.

"He is giving the power to the ROTC student," she said.

Tiedeman noted that the project was a nonprofit and is being funded in part by the hundreds of people who've bought $250 tiles to honor a veteran, past or present.

"It belongs to the community," she said. "We're not going to tolerate it being vandalized."

-- Contact staff writer Dan Simmons at (760) 740-5426 or dsimmons@nctimes.com.

Want to buy a tribute tile?

"Wall of Courage" organizers are taking orders for tiles dedicated to living or dead veterans. Each tile costs $250 and will bear the veteran's name. A new wall of tiles will be dedicated July 4th, with more to come as the orders come in, said tribute publicist Marty Tiedeman. To order, call Tiedeman at (760) 743-1474 or contact artist Gale Pruitt at galepruitt@nethere.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01 ... _15_08.txt

Veteran Memorial at Grape Day Park, Escondido, CA




http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2F2B

Artist Gale Pruitt 70 stands before the missing banner, missing after recent vandalism on the life-size statues at the military memorial behind the train station at Grape Day Park.

Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.
Your comment has been submitted and will be viewable once it is approved.

let me guess, gang graffitii wrote on Jan 16, 2008 12:54 AM:Why aren't we hearing what kind of graffiti appeared? Is it a secret? Do you not want to get people mad? What is it?

Could it be a Latino gang trying to mark their territory and you don't want people upset? don't want to give the wrong image?Was it foul words?

When a church was hit in Mira Mesa we heard explicit details. Where are the details?

Didn't have it wrote on Jan 16, 2008 6:26 AM:tagged with MS13, did it?

Skip wrote on Jan 16, 2008 6:52 AM:Hey NCT! How about a picture of the vandalism. Was it graffiti? A similar event like this happened in New Haven CT last week. Their vandals have struck at a Vietnam War memorial and they left graffiti and damaged the statue. They also left gang symbols relating to MS-13.

hammerheads wrote on Jan 16, 2008 7:38 AM:maybe it was a skinhead crew or a skating tagging crew? How bout that?

esteban wrote on Jan 16, 2008 7:43 AM:These vandlas are nothing nore than gutless losers who will NEVER amount to anything in this life...except maybe a good prison barber.

Why Give Taggers More Fame wrote on Jan 16, 2008 7:45 AM:If you show or describe the grafitti explictly you are giving the tagger the recognition he wants and you'll encourage him to do it again. That's why you usually don't see photos of the tagging or a identifiable description.

Worthless POS wrote on Jan 16, 2008 7:45 AM:This is why some people don't DESERVE to live in this country, they have no pride in our Country, they just want to take from it and destroy all that matters to US.

Sickening wrote on Jan 16, 2008 7:48 AM:Nothing has value to these hoodlums because they aren't taught values as children. When you brought into this world "taking" from others you continue along that vein your whole life. Get out there and take what you can whether you deserve it, earned it, or are even entitled to it - just take for the sake of taking. Disgusting! I hope they catch these characters and when they do make them spend 30 minutes with each veteran alone in a windowless room.

Free Expression... wrote on Jan 16, 2008 7:52 AMerhaps the vandals were expressing their displeasure with the unwarranted reverence our nation has for so called heroes. While I don't condone criminal behavior, I can see why someone might want to defile a monument to American aggression and butchery around the globe. I would prefer that those wishing to express such sentiments to do so lawfully with protest signs,...

Matthew wrote on Jan 16, 2008 8:11 AM:Anyone who thinks this is a Hispanic issue is kidding themselves. Maybe this was done by Hispanics, maybe it wasn't. Vandalism and graffiti traverse ethnic lines. I go to a university, for example, that is predominately white. Yet a blank wall won't last a day before it is covered in graffiti. Put your racism aside and realize that anywhere you have young people and public spaces you will graffiti and vandalism.

Add Your Comments or Letter to the Editor

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01 ... _12_08.txt

This assult against American heros is really getting out of hand!!!



..................."RED ALERT" JAN. 16TH...........................
HELP US WITH..."LOU DOBBS FOR PRESIDENT CAMPAIGN"
Instructions and information at link below!!
Please read the special notice so you will understand the strategy behind this campaign
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... c&p=586834

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

This assult against American heros is really getting out of hand!!!



..................."RED ALERT" JAN. 16TH...........................
HELP US WITH..."LOU DOBBS FOR PRESIDENT CAMPAIGN"
Instructions and information at link below!!
Please read the special notice so you will understand the strategy behind this campaign
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... c&p=586834

I agree 100%

of course we don't trust the main stream media to tell us the truth. but even when the truth is right in everyone's faces they find a way to dismiss
it.
of course it was "latinos" who did it :anchor babies or illegals .
google mexifornia on u-tube. They are attacking living vets too.
The area where this happened is ground zero for the invasion.