The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC has joined with the Vietnam Veterans of America expressing their hope that 387 acres of land will be used for the benefit of Disabled and Homeless Veterans.  The 387 acres of land that borders Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, California, originally deeded for the benefit of Veterans in 1888, is being used for purposes that do not benefit Veterans in Los Angeles County. 

     Every Sunday for 3 years, the elderly Disabled and Homeless Veterans have been peacefully protesting the current lease of their deeded land to business entities in Westwood.  One of their peaceful acts of distress has been to fly the American Flag upside down—a recognized international signal of distress used on the high seas by seamen in trouble.  The Sunday peaceful demonstrations continue to be held on Wilshire Boulevard adjacent to the land.  Donna Beiter, the Executive Director of the VA in Los Angeles, regularly sent VA Police Officers to give those elderly and Disabled Veterans citations for flying the American Flag upside down. These Veterans that have been cited include WWII and Vietnam Disabled Veterans, some of whom are wheelchair bound. Those citations were subsequently thrown out by the Federal Judge in court hearings.  Beiter’s actions were, in effect, preventing Veterans from exercising their right of free speech. 

     A descendant of the family that donated the land to the VA for the benefit of Veterans and others have joined together in a lawsuit to support returning the use of land for the benefit of Veterans.  These include Harvard Professor for Constitutional Law (Laurence Tribe, Esq.), Gary Blasi, Esq., a UCLA attorney, Maj Gen Paul Monroe (Former Adjutant General of the California National Guard), the City of Santa Monica, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, the Vietnam Veterans of America, Massey & Gall, LLP, the Inner City Law Center of Los Angeles, Ron Olson of Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP, Arnold & Porter, LLP.  Please click on the below listed links of various LA newspapers to review details of the issue.
ACLU sues Veterans Affairs over misused West L.A. complex that once served thousands of retired soldiers

www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/06/aclu_sues_veterans_affairs_over_misused_west_l.a._complex_that_once_served_thousands_of_retired_sold

VA Facility in West Los Angeles Abandons Homeless Veterans

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/06/08/va-facility-in-west-los-angeles-abandons-homeless-veterans/

Regime Change at the Largest VA in the Nation - "Veterans Today"

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/06/20/regime-change-at-the-largest-va-in-the-nation/