Wow ! Crazy to think I was 53 when this all started and now I just turned 60 ! Any way this is a cool photo of some of the Boys of the Blvd as we call them WW II Veterans whos names were on the original monument which is proudly watching over the Veterans court at Lancaster Cemetery . Here is an article from 2007 when this all started , LANCASTER - Bob Alvis recalls running up and down Lancaster Boulevard as a kid, never giving a thought to the World War II monument he always passed. Now, the 7-foot, 11-ton structure in disrepair is a near-obsession for Alvis. The 53-year-old lifelong Antelope Valley resident founded and heads Friends of the Lancaster Cemetery, a nonprofit working to restore the monument and move it to the cemetery. The monument stands on Lancaster Boulevard at Cedar Avenue - where it was erected in the 1940s, bearing the names of 709 World War II veterans. The group envisions the monument as the centerpiece of a veterans memorial at the cemetery that would feature an amphitheater. Alvis said bringing a restored monument to the cemetery will properly honor American military heroes. Just as important, he said, is preserving the Antelope Valleys cultural landscape against the backdrop of explosive growth. What happens is the old-school gets bulldozed over and taken away from us, he said. When I travel to the Midwest, you go to all these little towns, (and) they hold on to their history. Old buildings arent just torn down. That stuff is dear to us. We used to take so much for granted, and now its all disappearing. Alvis, an Air Force veteran who served during the cold war, is considered among the Antelope Valleys most renowned military historians. He helped lobby for a national WWII monument in Washington, D.C. He owns War Eagle Hobbies, a Quartz Hill military collection store that many consider a museum of historical artifacts. Lancaster Cemetery District board chairman Norm Hickling said Alvis passion has driven the effort to bring the monument to the cemetery. Hes the heart and soul of that group, Hickling said. ( In the end its all about these guys not me and I will champion then till the day I die ) Bob out ...
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 05:41:21 +0000