A patriotic day

BARBARA DIAMOND

“Freedom Is Not Free” was the theme of the 38th annual Patriots Day

Parade on Saturday.

“You don’t know how precious freedom is, until you lose it,” said

Gigi Blount, whose hometown in Belgium was occupied for four years by

the Germans in World War II. “The day we were liberated was the most

joyous moment in my life, until I met [husband] Ben.”

The parade honored those who paid the ultimate price of their

lives and those who were willing to pay the price in the service of

their country.

U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Terry G. Robling, the parade’s grand

marshal, has been awarded the Legion of Merit, the Joint Meritorious

Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Commendation

Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal

with Gold Star, the Joint Achievement Medal and the Presidential Unit

Citation. Those honors don’t come cheaply.

Patriot of the Year Bill Schuster fought in one of the bloodiest

battles of the Pacific Theater, fought by the 96th Infantry Division

in World War II. The division received the Presidential Unit

Citation. Schuster came home with a Bronze Star and 100 pounds

lighter.

Citizen of the Year Doris Shields paid her dues in legendary

contributions to the cultural life of Laguna.

“It’s sad but very true that freedom isn’t free,” said Nonthiya

Karndej, a 16-year-old exchange student from Thailand.

Parade committee President Charles J. Quilter II, a retired U.S.

Marine Corps aviator and historian, proposed the 2004 parade theme.

His wife, Ann, comes from a military family.

They know better than most the cost of freedom. His service

spanned 44 years from enlistment to re-retirement.

Ann Quilter lost her brother in 2002 in a Marine Corps training

flight. Still, she gave a thumbs up to Charlie to “unretire” and go

to Iraq in 2003 as a marine aviation historian -- knowing full well

that he’d be in a plane and flying over the combat zone at every

opportunity.

It was the second Middle East war for Col. Quilter, who had served

as a historian in Desert Storm. He was hailed as a hero when he

returned and named Patriot of the Year in the 1993 parade.

“I never even knew anyone who was in combat until Charlie Quilter

went to Iraq,” said Sandi Werthe, parade committee secretary. “We

worried enough about him to make up for it.”

Werthe’s husband, Hal, also a committee member, served in the

Korean War, but she didn’t know him then and she was too young to

really understand war when her father served in the U.S. Navy in

World War II. “What I remember was moving to Seattle from Minnesota

when I was 6 and seeing my first slug,” she said.

World War II, Korea and Vietnam are history to 2004 parade Junior

Citizens of the Year Maddy Bell and Taylor King; Laguna Beach High

School student Nicole Lim, who designed the cover of the program for

the parade; and Thurston Middle School student Danny Allen, winner of

the program essay contest.

“The cost of freedom is priceless,” Allen wrote.

Walt Forsyth served six years in the U.S. Navy in World War II,

first on a battleships and then in a submarine.

“I never considered the price too high to pay,” Forsyth said.

The price is not always paid with the same coin.

Peace activist Eleanor Henry prefers words to battleships or bombs

in the battle to preserve such freedoms as the right to free speech.

“I have vented my spleen numerous times to protest threats to

liberty,” Henry said. “In 1986, I walked from New York to Washington,

D.C. in the Great Peace March.”

Skip Leavitt, who rode in the Chamber of Commerce trolley in the

parade, patrolled the Caribbean during World War II, trolling for

German submarines.

“I didn’t pay the price that some others have,” said Cossie

Meckling, waving a hand at other members of the Beautification

Council who participated in the parade.

The council’s flower-bedecked boat, built by Es Cowman, was

appropriate. Longtime council member Harry Lawrence served in the

U.S. Navy’s amphibian forces in World War II, and former council

President “Dutch” Vanderhoof spent five years in the navy.

Parade volunteer Bill Morris remembered cruising off the Tonkin

Gulf in a missile carrier.

“It was worth it,” Morris said.

Sharon Thoresen of the Exchange Club said she benefited from her

father’s career in the military.

“He instilled in me a sense of patriotism and love of country,”

she said.

Both of Jan Hawkes’ parents were in the service.

“I grew up with war stories,” Hawkes said. “The stories prepared

me for the loss of friends in the Vietnam War.”

Hawkes, who drove the city’s most recently acquired trolley -- it

only had about 500 miles on it Saturday -- was the City Council’s

chauffeur in the parade. Passengers included city treasurer Laura

Parisi, council members Wayne Baglin and Toni Iseman, Mayor Cheryl

Kinsman and City Clerk Verna Rollinger.

There were 100 entries in the parade this year. One of the most

noticeable was the Laguna Beach Water District’s huge flag made of

balloons, suggested by district employee Andrea Watkins.

Emily Ross dreamed up the parade “to instill in our youth the love

of country and respect for the flag.” The flag has been the theme of

the parade three times -- in 1969, 1977 and 1983.

From the beginning, the parade has been a hometown project, an

all-volunteer labor of love.

The committee this year included the Col. Quilter, Nina Rietsch,

the Werthes, police Sgt. Jason Kravetz, Gavin Kentle, Beverly Hine,

Jim and Jean Law, Sande St. John, Richard Moore, Jim Gothard, Karen

Ford, Doug Miller, Anne Wood, “Diz” D’Isabella and Sonny Budd.

MIRACLES HAPPEN

A film based on a book that nobody wanted to produce in 1973, when

Laguna’s Ted Taylor wrote it, received five Emmy nominations, it was

announced March 4.

“The Maldonado Miracle” was nominated for outstanding special

direction and three acting awards for Peter Fonda, Mare Willingham

and Ruben Blades.

Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek directed the film. It debuted

at Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival and was shown Oct. 9 on

Showtime.

Paul Cooper recently won the Writer’s Guild of America Award for

Outstanding Children’s/Family Teleplay for the film.

* OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, CA 92652; hand-deliver to 384 Forest Ave., Suite

22; call 494-4321; or fax 494-8979.