Peace at Last After 4-Year Battle Over War Memorial : San Pedro: The monument to those who fought in the Korean War will focus more on camaraderie than battle. It could be dedicated next July 17, the 40th anniversary of the war’s end.

The anger and the ugliness, the attacks and the counterattacks, officially are at an end. The committee working to erect an international memorial to veterans of the Korean War have achieved a truce with the people of San Pedro.

The Korean War lasted three years, ending with a cease-fire on July 17, 1953; the battle between the memorial committee and San Pedro residents ended Tuesday after four years, but theirs is a true peace accord, not just a laying down of arms.

“It became clear that if we didn’t come to peace with the various groups there that were opposing us, this was not going to be a project that would be user-friendly,” said longtime memorial organizer Jack Stites. “So we made a concerted effort to make peace with those people.”

Not absolutely everyone is pleased with the scaled-down version of the memorial or with the idea of using four acres of San Pedro’s most scenic land at Angels Gate Park for it. But most of the community representatives who attended a public hearing earlier this week to show the redrawn memorial had only compliments for the memorial and praise for the memorial committee’s new diplomacy.

The two or three concerns raised centered on whether the Korean Memorial would detract from the World War I and II aura of a nearby military museum and whether putting the memorial on the prime piece of coastland was the best use for the property. But those concerns were mild compared with the raging opposition four years ago.

On Dec. 5, 1988, members of the International Korean Veterans Memorial committee enthusiastically unveiled their plan for a memorial in Angels Gate Park, and San Pedro residents hated it.

Many were repelled by the original drawing of the memorial: a group of larger-than-life statues engaged in a battle, and they wondered why the committee wanted to place a battle scene next to the Korean Friendship bell--a fixture in San Pedro.

Some veterans were angry and perplexed, wondering how any patriot could be against any kind of memorial to veterans.

So after the preliminary hostilities, constituencies for and against the memorial hunkered down and went to war.

“From Dec. 15 of 1988 to April, 1989, we were just in a constant verbal battle,” said longtime project organizer Stites. “For every letter they would put in the newspaper we would put in one to counter it, and we were all name-calling.”

In 1989, however, Mayor Tom Bradley forced the warring parties to talk to each other, placing memorial proponents and opponents on the same Angels Gate Citizens’ Advisory Committee.

The new monument will show 12 soldiers, each about six feet tall, during what appears to be a lull in the battle. The soldiers’ guns are not aimed at an enemy, and the emphasis is on their support of each other. About 35 feet away, a statue of a nurse will stand with one arm outstretched toward one of the fallen soldiers in the main cluster.

It has also been moved, no longer next to the Friendship Bell but closer to the Ft. MacArthur military museum.

“No questioning that it’s a compromise, but I personally believe we have a more beautiful memorial than what we designed,” Stites said.

Most of the residents at the public hearing Tuesday night agreed.

Jerry Gaines, co-chairman of the Angels Gate Citizens Advisory Committee and someone who opposed the original design, supported the new design but had more praise for the memorial committee’s willingness to negotiate with the community.

“I want to commend the work that’s been done these last four years and want to show the appreciation for the sensitivity to the kinds of concerns residents of the area had experienced,” Gaines said. “I can only state that this is a good example of how to build a consensus.”

And the Department of Recreation and Parks also was impressed.

“I remember what it was like four years ago and I have to congratulate you,” said David Connetta, who reviewed the proposal for the department. “It’s been an experience to see what an open, public airing can to do modify concerns and bring people together.”

The Department of Recreation and Parks is accepting public comment on the redrawn plans until Oct. 10. If all goes well, the memorial committee hopes to dedicate the memorial July 17, 1993, the 40th anniversary of the war’s end.

“Basically, getting this monument built meant sucking in my gut and reaching out a hand of friendship, so that’s what I did, and I’m glad I did it,” Stites said.

“I’m glad I did it for the memorial and I’m glad I did it for myself. They were really nice people, and I even started understanding them and their concerns,” he said.