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San Fernando Valley Veterans unite at Wendy’s

By: Cindy Libonati

Leo Keligan

Just to keep my audience updated on Wings over Wendy’s, I wanted to tip my readers off to a Daily News article written by Dennis McCarthy:

“The party starts at about 9 every Monday morning at Wendy’s restaurant in West Hills, and ends around 11 a.m. The vets finish their last cup of coffee, tell their last joke, and head for the exits to make room for the lunch crowd starting to wander in.

“See you next week,” they say, shaking hands. Drive safe.

No one passing them in the parking lot seems to have any idea who these men are, because if they did they’d probably stop and thank them.

They certainly deserve it. When this country asked them to leave their families and help us out of some tight spots around the world, they did.

World War II, Korea, Vietnam.

Most of them were pilots, navigators and bombardiers. They call themselves “Wings Over Wendy’s” and a more colorful, down-to-earth bunch of people you’re not going to find.

When I walked in to talk to them Monday, the raffle winners were just being announced. The prizes included a pack of 10 ballpoint pens, two small sacks of oranges from somebody’s backyard tree, and a videotape of “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Beautiful.

“Crash” Blechman, Ed Figueroa, Mickey Epstein and a handful of other aviation veterans came up with the idea of a weekly Monday morning get together at Wendy’s about nine years ago. Today, the group has 140 members.

Crash, who died last year, earned his dubious nickname after crashing five Navy fighter planes during his military career.

He always joked that the Japanese acknowledged him as one of their aces.Laughs are a big part of this exclusive club. War grudges are hard to keep when one of your former members flew for the German Luftwaffe.

He told Figueroa he knew the war in Europe was almost over when he took off one day with 40 other Luftwaffe pilots and were met by 1,200 American planes.

“We never imagined when we started Wings Over Wendy’s that it would grow this big,” Figueroa said Monday, looking around the packed room.

Sitting a few feet away from the former B-26 gunner, 89-year-old Clyde East – the most decorated combat pilot in the room – sat with his young granddaughter.

He felt it was important that she have the chance to be here with him and meet some of these men, said East, a quiet, unassuming man.

The great ones usually are. East flew more than 200 combat missions in World War II and another 100 combat missions in Korea during his 25 years of service.

He was awarded dozens of war medals, including the Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross, and that was just from our government.

He was also decorated by the governments of England, France, and Belgium. In 1955, Col. East made the Guiness Book of World Records for the highest number of combat medals up to that time.

And on Monday morning – holding his granddaughter’s hand – this incredible old war hero walked to his parked car without getting a second look.

Across town, Lindsay Lohan walked out of jail and back into the headlines.”

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

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Posted by Cindy Libonati on August 11th, 2010

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Battle of the Brains

By: Cindy Libonati

For the sixth time, El Camino Real High School has won the U.S. Academic Decathlon. The nine-student team came out on top with a combined score of 49,951.7 points out of 60,000 points on a variety of topics pertaining to the French Revolution. This makes Woodland Hills the all time leader in national championships. It’s now the 8th championship in a row that a California school has won.

Jessica Lin of the Conquistadores’ was the highest scorer with 8,645.7 points. The brainy squad is required to play one student from each grade point average category. The categories break down into honors (3.75-4.0), scholastic (3.0-3.74), varsity (up to 2.99).

The championship team consisted of Vivian Cheng, Evan Edmisten, Audrey Goldbaum, Daniel Moreh, Adriana Ureche and Michael Walker. Coaches John Dalsass and Stephanie Franklin helped them achieve their victory.

Congratulations to our Conquistadores’ and keep on fightin’.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

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Posted by Cindy Libonati on April 28th, 2010

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Not your average senior citizens

Clyde East

By: Cindy Libonati

Stroll into a classroom full 5^th grade boys and you’ll likely find a consortium of hodgepodge personalities, class clowns and painfully veracious adolescents.  Walk into the West Hills Wendy’s on a Monday morning and you’ll find a cartel of veterans that remain strikingly similar.  But beneath the façade of pithy comments and relentless remarks, these Vet’s contain thousands of remarkable anecdotes. From flying B-24’s in a formation of 2,000 airplanes to door gunners in Vietnam, this group of vet’s have established what they call, “Wing’s over Wendy’s.”

On any given Monday, 70 to 80 Veterans congregate to sip coffee, eat doughnuts and sustain their camaraderie as U.S. Veterans.  The leader of the madness is Art Sherman, a fearless commander of this bunch who, among other things, leads their weekly raffle.  The most coveted item this week?  Hand sanitizer.

Amongst the many gallant members, “Wings over Wendy’s” is lucky enough to have Clyde East.  East is currently honored in the Reagan Library for taking some of the only photos of Cuban weapons that later uncovered the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Roger Ewing, Elmo E. Maiden, Art Sherman, and Cindy Libonati (left to right)

Elmo Maiden, a B-24 pilot stationed in England who flew 35 missions in 1944 and 1945, still flies to Sacramento to visit his family.  He is 90 years old.  But spend a few brief moments with Elmo and he’ll surely dazzle you with his abundant energy and warm spirit.

Charles Slezak and Neil Houston are seasoned airplane mechanics that worked on sea planes and labored for over 30 years under the now waning American Airlines.  Both Houston and Slezak are not the torpor, languid seniors you may envision.  These guys abound with energy in their old age.

After spending a brief hour with 80 veterans, I walked out to a breezy parking lot and began to reflect on the myriad of stories these old lives maintain.  It is an experience I won’t soon forget. I’d like to extend my gratitude to those who courageous sacrificed for our United States.

Thank you to all those who served our country.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

• Cindy Libonati
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Posted by Cindy Libonati on November 30th, 2009

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