This Memorial Day weekend, the front lawn of Art Guzman’s Sylmar home will be adorned with military memorabilia – dress uniforms, combat helmets, jungle boots, training rifles, artistic military renderings and various iterations of the stars and stripes.
Community members are invited to stop by the display – which Guzman is setting up outside his house, at 15057 Larkspur Street in Sylmar – on Sunday, May 26, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Guzman, who served in Vietnam from 1971 to 1972, said the display has been his personal Memorial Day tradition for decades. His goal is simple yet significant: to honor fallen U.S. soldiers and the many members of his own family who served across multiple branches of the military in several wars, from World War II to the Vietnam War to Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Seven of us Guzman brothers served in the military, and three of us went to Vietnam – back to back to back – but for a long time it was something we didn’t talk about,” recalled Guzman.
But “everything changed” when Guzman and his brothers took a trip together to Washington, D.C., where they saw the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in person in the mid-1980s.
“When I saw the memorial, I was compelled, I felt strong in my heart that I had to tell the stories of my brothers on that wall, so that’s when I started doing veteran displays,” said Guzman, who began by visiting LAUSD and Santa Clarita elementary schools to create displays and speak with students, and later started doing a yearly display outside his home. The response has always been positive, he said.
“I’ve been doing this for over 35 years now … [and] what I focus on is family veterans,” he explained. “I don’t tell my war stories – I don’t talk about combat. … The focus is on the veterans and their families. Many people often stop by and ask questions or share their own stories.
“It’s to commemorate our cousins, uncles, grandpas – and female family members, too; all our loved ones,” he continued. “We need to remember our fallen.”
