07/22/02
Foundation's new president has new idea
PHIL DIEHL
Staff Writer
North County Time
OCEANSIDE ---- The Pacific Wars Memorial Foundation's new president has a fresh idea for an old concept, the plan to build an expansive tribute to U.S. veterans of wars fought in the Pacific region.
The foundation's new president,
Albert Renteria, has suggested that the proposed memorial honor all U.S. military
personnel, veterans and civilians who fought in any war, right back to the Revolution,
instead of just those in the Pacific.
"Let's make this a war memorial on the Pacific Coast versus a Pacific wars memorial," Renteria said. By taking that approach, Renteria said, he hopes to gain the financial and emotional support of the entire nation, not just military veterans, including anyone engaged in the war against terrorism.
"It has a longer vision, a longer reach," he said. "Let's think about America first."
Renteria, 45, retired from a 26-year career in the Marine Corps two years ago at the rank of chief warrant officer and works for George S. May International Co., a computer and business consulting firm.
He recently assumed the volunteer post as the foundation's president from Allan Dorfman, an Encinitas real estate agent who had headed it for its first two years.
A Fallbrook resident, Renteria is also president of the Tri-City Council of the Navy League, a volunteer organization that helps young Marines and sailors and their families.
"They don't just pick any old dummy for that," Dorfman said. "He has experience with fund-raising, and he's a wonderful organizational guy. I don't think he ever sleeps. He's available 24 hours a day, and he's gung-ho for the cause."
Dorfman said he likes Renteria's idea of broadening the war memorial's appeal. The foundation has always sought broad-based support, with plans for a museum, library and public meeting rooms on the site.
"My mother made bandages for World War II," Dorfman said. "She worked for the Red Cross. I'd like to memorialize her ... and anybody who worked in any capacity."
The cause requires a strong commitment to fund-raising. The foundation needs $35 million to build the memorial, and so far it's raised only enough to cover day-to-day expenses. However, it recently received its nonprofit status from the IRS, Dorfman said, which it needed before seeking commitments from large donors.
The idea for a large, regional war memorial originated about 1990 with a plan to build it on 35 acres inside Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base near the main gate at Oceanside. Organizers had a tentative agreement from the Marines, but that agreement evaporated when the Gulf War heated up and caused the Marines to rethink their priorities. Without a site, the plan stalled for several years.
The foundation formed in 2000 and agreed on a new site, 17 acres owned by the city south of Mission Avenue along the eastern side of Interstate 5, near the Oceanside Senior Center and a municipal golf course.
The City Council voted in February 2001 to look further at the project and whether it was appropriate for the site. The foundation expects to return to the council for approval of a new agreement at a meeting early next month.
Deputy City Manager Mike Blessing said the agreement, which is still being drawn up, will set benchmarks for fund-raising and for an environmental analysis of the site to be met by the foundation during the next year.
Most of the memorial will be built on 4 to 5 acres of the site that have been disturbed by activities in the past, Blessing said. Portions of the site must be protected as wildlife habitat.
The foundation is not the first to propose a war memorial on the site. Los Angeles sculptor Ed Colarik came to Oceanside in 1994 with a proposal to build the Vietnam Memorial Sculpture Garden, with 35 life-size bronze statues depicting men and women in military service.
The City Council gave Colarik a three-year option on the property, despite objections from the city's arts community over the quality of the project. However, Colarik never obtained the necessary environmental approvals and other clearances.
Also, a partner working with Colarik on the project was arrested and later pleaded guilty to charges of selling phony artwork out of a shop in Cleveland. The sculpture garden idea died quietly when the option expired.
Unlike Colarik, the foundation has assembled a broad base of local support that includes former Oceanside Mayor Dick Lyon, former Del Mar Mayor Bill Arballo, former Camp Pendleton commanding generals Claude Reinke, Joe McMonagle, and Ray Murray, and other North County community leaders.
For more information, visit the foundation's Web site at www.pacwars.org or call toll-free (866) 722-9277.
Contact staff writer Phil Diehl at (760) 901-4087 or pdiehl@nctimes.com