Southern California Salutes Its Veterans With Events, Freebies
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Monday is Veterans Day, and several events will honor active-duty service members and military veterans across Southern California.
Veterans and their families will get to celebrate their service at free events or with freebies from a variety of restaurants.
The inaugural Veterans Day LA will take place outside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will include aerial demonstrations, food trucks and previews of upcoming films. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and an Army National Guard major, will being among the speakers at the Coliseum event, which will also feature a lighting of the torch at 11 a.m. to mark the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" when World War I ended in 1918.
In Mission Hills, the 16th annual San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade will start at 11:11 a.m. at the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and San Fernando Mission Boulevard. More than 100 veterans groups will participate in the parade, and a Los Angeles County Fire Department Firehawk helicopter will buzz the parade route when it starts, while a squadron of Condor planes used in World War II training missions will fly information overhead from 11:35 to 11:40 a.m.
On the USS Iowa, veterans and their families can take in film screenings, family-friendly activities and take ship tours.
Veterans Day events will also take place today at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills, the Sal Guarriello Veterans Memorial in West Hollywood and in El Sereno.
Restaurants across the country are offering discounts to veterans Monday. Deals include 20 percent off at Bubba Gump Shrimp, and a free entrée from a select menu at Olive Garden. Veterans, active service members and their spouses will receive a free cup of coffee Monday at Starbucks. Proof of military service is required for most deals.
SoCal Honda will also pay to fill up the cars of veterans at stations in North Hills from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and in Los Angeles from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The CBS Veterans Network is partnering with Christopher Styles Barber Spa, 4815 Whitsett in Valley Village, to offer free haircuts for veterans. To reserve a time slot, call (818) 766-7900.
Veterans Day is a federal holiday, so courthouses, federal and county courthouses, post offices, most banks and schools are closed, and there is no postal mail delivery Monday.
