Forgotten Heroes

In the
tense days of WWII and the patriotic binge that came with peace in
1945, councilmen solemnly pledged to honor the city’s war dead with a
memorial of some sort.

It was tentatively agreed that a living
memorial was preferable to statuary. One suggestion was for a center in
Chavez Ravine featuring a motion picture unit shooting actual films.
There was also talk of naming parks for war heroes.

A few
fumbling surveys were made but these ideas never got beyond the
discussion stage. Meanwhile, a framed sign stating "This space is
reserved for a fitting memorial to the war dead of WWII" was placed in
the entrance forecourt of City Hall.

But times and councilmen
change and memories fade. This week the sign was quietly removed. No
one knows why and apparently only a few veterans care. They think it’s
a rotten shame.

::

A MAN puffing with exertion and carrying a suitcase and overcoat arrived late for the annual school play in a San Marino elementary school recently and apologetically plowed his way to his seat.

At
intermission he said to his neighbors, "Please excuse me. I paid $15
cab fare from the airport to get here in time to see my boy. He’s in
the next act."

The little boy appeared briefly as scheduled, spoke one line and retired.

Greater love hath no parent.

::

WITHOUT a gimmick you’re nowhere in today’s movie market. And so Malvin Wald  and Henry F. Greenberg , who wrote the script for the film "Al Capone ," and David Raksin , who wrote the score, got together and dreamed up a theme song.

The
lyrics are choice. The first one: "This is the tale of Al Capone, the
biggest gangster ever known. He came to Chicago in 1920 with only a gun
— but that was plenty."

Stanza 4: "That was the heyday of Al
Capone, protection racket was all his own. Pay through the nose to save
your store, yell for the law and you yell no more."

The way things are going in the violence department it’s likely to be authentic folk music in about 10 years.

ONLY IN L.A. — During the evening rush hour on the San Bernardino
Freeway, John E. Edwards reports a motorcycle policeman in the narrow
divider was precariously holding a full-grown sheep by the neck.
Outcome unknown.

ANOTHER Space Age problem has presented itself.

Dave Siegel, preparing to film Nelson Glueck’s book, "Rivers in the Desert ," about the ancient Negev civilization, isn’t sure what to do about astrology.

In
ancient times people believed the stars guided their destinies. Many
still do and arrange their lives according to carefully calculated
horoscopes.

But now we’ve got satellites orbiting all over the
place and we’ll have more as time goes on. Will these artificial
whatchamacallits have the same astrological implications as the old
standbys? And what about horoscopes? What can be said of a person born
under the sign of Vanguard II? Tune in about the year 2000 and maybe
we’ll know.

A PIXIE at
NBC tells unmarried gals he knows of a handsome young lawyer they might
like to meet. When they show interest he says, "Fine, I’ll have his
mother call you. His name is Frank Duncan."

FOOTNOTES
— Instead of "Sincerely" or "Yours truly," Kay Kennedy of the Alaska
Visitors Assn. signs off her letters, "Gaily" … All in all, reaction
on the new mugshot is favorable. As one reader put it, "You no longer
look as if you’d just been stabbed in the back, smelled burning
feathers or were confronted with a black widow spider."

Incidentally
the untimely heat has brought out the b.w. spiders. Killed three of
them on a brick pile … Jack Webb, Badge 678, and his partner, Robert
Bailey, are deputy sheriffs at Norwalk station. Never dragged a net in
their lives … Recommended listening: Count Basie’s band playing "In
the Night" at the Crescendo.

[Note: The Daily Mirror has been using Weinstock’s preferred mug shot all along. The only thing we did is not flip it the way they did in 1959!–lrh]