Eagle memorial would honor forgotten soldiers

Deirdre Newman

For 35 years, veteran Bud Hohl has led the Memorial Day service at

Harbor Lawn-Mount Olive Mortuary & Memorial Park.

The services honor the veterans buried there. Hohl, however, felt

the event lacked acknowledgment of veterans who died in the line of

duty overseas and are interred outside the United States.

“On Memorial Day, we forget about them,” Hohl said. “They’re

buried on the battlefields.”

To honor them, Hohl is leading the charge to get a special

memorial installed at the cemetery. He found an impressive reminder

in the form of a large cast-iron eagle statue.

Perched on a rock, with wings extended, beak open and one talon

outstretched, it looks like it’s about to devour any challengers to

America’s freedom.

The only obstacle to installing the memorial: the $130,000 price

tag.

As president of the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars,

Hohl is looking to the city and the community to pitch in $100,000 of

that.

“Everybody step forward for your country,” Hohl urged.

Hohl started working on the project in 2000 for the 60th

anniversary of the Newport-Mesa chapter of the Veterans of Foreign

Wars. The eagle memorial is slated to replace the gun cannon in the

veterans’ section of the cemetery, where the Memorial Day services

are held.

“We look forward to working with Bud and the city of Costa Mesa

and the citizens and all others involved to make this vision a

reality,” said Lynn Stucker, the general manager of the cemetery.

Hohl was 22 when he joined the Marines to escape form working in

the mines in Arizona. As an enlisted pilot -- a “flying peon,” he

called it -- he fought in Okinawa during World War II. He went on to

fight in Korea and retired after 22 years of service.

He and his fellow Marines flew with the pride of an eagle, he

said, making eagles close to his heart. He has been collecting eagles

of all shapes and sizes for years, he said.

“That’s the ultimate eagle,” he said, pointing to the cast-iron

eagle, which is being stored in the cemetery’s garage.

He found this one in Spokane, Wash., and immediately began making

plans for the memorial to accommodate it. It spans six feet from top

to bottom, from beak to tail and from wing to wing.

“The intent was to have a smaller eagle on top of a globe,” Hohl

said. “When I bought that [one], I had to come up with something

better.”

He designed the six-sided base of the memorial to honor all five

branches of the military services, plus local veterans. When

finished, the eagle will sit 14 feet in the air atop the six-sided,

black polished granite monument. The text on the base of the monument

will be supplied by the five military branches and include

reflections about the veterans who have been lost overseas, Hohl

said. The monument will be surrounded by a short wall with lights on

the corners shining up on the memorial.

Costa Mesa Fire Chief Jim Ellis, also a former Marine, said he is

eager to help Hohl with his fundraising efforts.

“I’m thrilled to be part of the project to take it forward and

look forward with working with Bud to make it happen,” Ellis said.

The City Council will consider Hohl’s request for support at its

April 5 meeting, management analyst Carol Proctor said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].