Veterans Los Angeles County

It was supposed to be a bread-breaking event, a chance for soldiers from two vastly different cultures who fought together in the same war to reflect on their common experiences. But the invited Vietnamese group from a Baptist church in Pacoima never made it Saturday to the second annual barbecue of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

It was supposed to be a bread-breaking event, a chance for soldiers from two vastly different cultures who fought together in the same war to reflect on their common experiences. But the invited Vietnamese group from a Baptist church in Pacoima never made it Saturday to the second annual barbecue of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

When Milo Hastings was hit by flak during a bombing run in World War II, he feared that the partial paralysis in his left leg would keep him from ever winning a swimming medal again. This week, however, Hastings, 70, was still celebrating his four gold swimming medals from the Seventh Annual Veterans Golden Age Games, where he and other teammates from the Sepulveda VA Medical Center took home more medals than any of the 34 other veteran teams from across the nation. "I feel very good.

When Milo Hastings was hit by flak during a bombing run in World War II, he feared that the partial paralysis in his left leg would keep him from ever winning a swimming medal again. This week, however, Hastings, 70, was still celebrating his four gold swimming medals from the Seventh Annual Veterans Golden Age Games, where he and other teammates from the Sepulveda VA Medical Center took home more medals than any of the 34 other veteran teams from across the nation. "I feel very good.

Santa Monica joined other Westside cities this week in approving money for a proposed 156-bed facility for homeless veterans on federal land in West Los Angeles. The Santa Monica City Council agreed Tuesday to contribute $400,000 toward the $5.2-million project. Beverly Hills, Culver City, Los Angeles and several federal agencies have pledged loans and grants for the regional facility.

Los Angeles County plans today to file suit in federal district court in an attempt to block the proposed June auction by the U.S. Army of a prime 10-acre parcel at Wilshire Boulevard and Federal Avenue that is now used as the West Los Angeles U.S. Army Reserve Center.

The Sepulveda VA Medical Center will recognize the contributions of women veterans Thursday, with a special event featuring speakers, health information and medical screenings. "This is a great opportunity for us here in the hospital to reach out to women veterans," said Kallie Wight, a counselor in the Women Veterans Health Program.

Federal lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday that would bar commercial development on the sprawling West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus in Brentwood and Westwood. The measure had been inserted into a larger appropriations bill by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and was passed by both the House and the Senate.

A veterans outreach organization in Long Beach was named one of 17 groups nationwide Wednesday to receive a share of $7.5 million to train veterans for green jobs. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced the agency grants to provide about 3,000 veterans with training and employment in green jobs. In California, the Long Beach site will get $500,000 to train more than 100 veterans in Los Angeles County and find work for them.

White male, age 69. Homeless for 15 years and three months. Usually sleeps at the beach or along a riverbed. Has hepatitis C and suffers from mental illness. Has no health insurance. Has been incarcerated. African American male, age 61. Homeless for seven years and nine months. Usually sleeps at the beach. Has cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, hepatitis C, tuberculosis. Suffers from mental illness. Has been to the emergency room three times in the last three months.

Developers of a proposed veterans housing complex in North Hills have until today to appeal a city zoning department ruling that would block the project, which has been mired in controversy for almost seven years and has divided some veterans. The Homes for Heroes project seeks to convert two vacant earthquake-damaged medical buildings at the Sepulveda Veterans Affairs complex into 147 studio apartments for homeless and disabled veterans.

To protect patients in clinical studies, the Department of Veterans Affairs is taking the unprecedented step of suspending research activities at the West Los Angeles veterans hospital, the nation's largest VA health care facility. The action, scheduled to take effect Friday, climaxes six years of government inquiries into the medical center's failures to comply with regulations safeguarding patients in studies, according to documents obtained by The Times.