{"id":296762,"date":"2026-05-02T15:52:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/296762\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T15:52:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:52:19","slug":"san-pedro-rallied-to-repair-and-rededicate-damaged-memorials-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/296762\/","title":{"rendered":"San Pedro rallied to repair and rededicate damaged memorials \u2013 Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"American<\/p>\n

American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial Wall of Honor (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Plaques<\/p>\n

Plaques have been stolen from San Pedro\u2019s large public memorials on Harbor Boulevard in recent months, with thieves stealing the valuable metals from the displays honoring the town\u2019s fishing industry, Merchant Mariners and dockworkers. Now the monuments are fenced off, heavy patrols in place by the Los Angeles Port Police and investigations ongoing. Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Merchant<\/p>\n

Merchant Marine Laddy Memorial (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Restored<\/p>\n

Restored Fishermen\u2019s Memorial in San Pedro. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Merchant<\/p>\n

Merchant Marine Laddy Memorial (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Merchant<\/p>\n

Merchant Marine Laddy Memorial (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"American<\/p>\n

American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial Wall of Honor (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Residents<\/p>\n

Residents gather on April 25, 2026, to celebrate the restoration of San Pedro\u2019s fishing memorial. (Courtesy of John Mattera Photography)\n<\/p>\n

\"Crowds<\/p>\n

Crowds on April 25, 2026, get a closer look at San Pedro\u2019s newly restored memorial honoring the town\u2019s fishing industry and the families who built it. (Courtesy of John Mattera Photography)\n<\/p>\n

\"American<\/p>\n

American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial Wall of Honor (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fishing<\/p>\n

Fishing Industry Memorial (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fishing<\/p>\n

Fishing Industry Memorial (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Fishing<\/p>\n

Fishing Industry Memorial (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 13<\/p>\n

American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial Wall of Honor (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

When vandals hit a string of memorials along San Pedro\u2019s Harbor Boulevard in late 2023 and early 2024, it left many families in the port town devastated.<\/p>\n

But late last month, those families came together to celebrate the restoration of one of the remembrances \u2014 the Fishermen\u2019s Memorial that was originally installed in 1999 and listed the scores of families who settled in the harbor for its commercial fishing opportunities.<\/p>\n

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union\u2019s Harry Bridges memorial has since been repaired as well. And work is underway on the large \u201cJacob\u2019s Ladder\u201d and wall memorial to the Merchant Mariners by the group supporting that effort. The American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial, next to the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, was the first of the monuments to be put up \u2014 in 1986 \u2014 on the grassy area that stretches north along Harbor Boulevard.<\/p>\n

The thefts were part of a growing trend of taking valuable metals to be melted down and sold.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Port Police arrested three people<\/a> in connection with numerous memorial plaque thefts in the Harbor Area and South Bay on Feb. 13, 2024.<\/p>\n

The fishing industry memorial, located at the north end of John S. Gibson Park, was created with the support of the port town\u2019s many families with ties to what initially drew so many immigrants to the town.<\/p>\n

The April 25 ceremony brought an estimated 350 people out to celebrate the rededication of the beloved monument to the town\u2019s many residents with roots in the industry. Commercial fishing put San Pedro on the map and gave rise to such traditions as the Fishermen\u2019s Fiesta, a beloved annual event for many years that included a ceremonial blessing of the fleet and hundreds of decorated fishing boats parading in the harbor.<\/p>\n

\u201c(San Pedro) would not be the Port (of L.A.) without the fishing industry,\u201d said Kris Pielago, whose grandfather came from Croatia to fish San Pedro\u2019s waters.<\/p>\n

Pielago took the lead in bringing the memorial back following the damage. Her mom was part of the group that got the memorial built and Pielago later spent months sorting through old documents and boxes in her own follow-up mission to get the damaged monument repaired and restored.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt truly started with the immigrants coming from Croatia \u2014 Yugoslavia at the time \u2014 and Italy, Spain, Mexico, Greece, Japan,\u201d Pielago said of San Pedro\u2019s widespread fishing reputation. \u201cIt was a melting pot of so many nationalities that came together to fish on common ground, to work in the canneries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pielago took much of the lead researching what would be needed to restore the beloved monument and keep it safe from thieves going forward. The materials were changed from bronze \u2014 attractive and valuable to thieves, who take the material to shops where the metal is melted down for quick cash \u2014 to stone or marble. The old bronze family plaques were quick and easy to steal.<\/p>\n

From Pielago\u2019s standpoint, the new look is an improvement, easier to read and won\u2019t be harmed by weather as much of the old monument was. The material also won\u2019t attract thieves.<\/p>\n

The monument, 510 S. Harbor Blvd., just south of Fifth Street, is a striking landmark, topped by a large bronze sculpture of a fisherman holding a tuna. The 8-foot-tall cast bronze monument was created by sculptors Henry Alvarez and Clete Maffet Shields, and artist Robert Pi\u00f1a, according to the website Public Art in Public Places<\/a> . Pi\u00f1a attended the rededication ceremony, as did the family of Alvarez.<\/p>\n

For many, the monuments are personal<\/a> \u2014 as demonstrated by the crowd that turned out to celebrate the fishing marker\u2019s rededication.<\/p>\n

They also tell much of San Pedro\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

From the fishing monument\u2019s inscription:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 1892, Southern California Fish Corp. was the first cannery in Los Angeles Harbor,\u201d reads the fishing monument\u2019s inscription. \u201cIn 1903, a technique of preparing and canning was developed to can sardines, mackerel, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna and albacore. In 1912, the first fresh fish market was introduced in San Pedro and along with other markets that followed, they eventually supplied fresh and iced fish throughout our nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore long, flotillas of purse seine boats were sailing down from northern waters to fish in San Pedro,\u201d the inscription adds. \u201cBy 1920, there was a large fleet of fishing boats and methods of fishing such as purse seine, lampara, jig, live bait, gill net, mackerel scoopers and long line boats. Los Angeles Harbor became the largest fishing port in the nation. The fishing industry in San Pedro was originated primarily by European and Asian fishermen, each bringing fishing knowledge from their native lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1992, the Fishermen\u2019s Fiesta committee planned to put up a memorial and in 1995, a volunteer committee of descendants and fishermen was formed to plan the project, assisted by then-Los Angeles Councilmember Rudy Svorinich Jr., the city\u2019s Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Cultural Affairs Department.<\/p>\n

All of the monuments came about through fundraising efforts in the community that spanned years \u2014 and have long served as gathering spots along the town\u2019s waterfront.<\/p>\n

Some new names, Pielago said, are now also being added to the restored fishing monument<\/a> by families tied to the industry in San Pedro.<\/p>\n

Helping to fund the restoration<\/a> was the Port of Los Angeles through a $35,000 grant the group applied for. The entire project, Pielago said, ran an estimated $60,000. (The port also recently sponsored a documentary, \u201cThe Smell of Money,\u201d<\/a> on San Pedro\u2019s fishing history.)<\/p>\n

\u201cKris did a wonderful job; it took her a long time,\u201d said Augie Bezmalinovich, the port\u2019s San Pedro community advocate, referring to Pielago\u2019s work, which included going through boxes of original paperwork and research on the monument\u2019s names, and reaching out to those who worked on the memorial in the 1990s to get information that had vanished from the archives.<\/p>\n

The Merchant Marine monument<\/a>, meanwhile, is now mostly restored and should be completed soon, said Wendy Karnes, president of the Merchant Marine Veterans Association. That group is also replacing bronze with marble.<\/p>\n

National Maritime Day, a time when many gather at that landmark memorial, is coming up quickly \u2014 May 22. Karnes said she\u2019s hopeful it may be finished (\u201cor close to it\u201d) by then.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping it will be still more beautiful\u201d than it was, she said.<\/p>\n

That $25,000 project required a bunch of fundraising and outreach, she said, \u201cso we do have the money to move forward, all through donations.\u201d<\/p>\n

With L.A. Fleet Week also coming up on Memorial Day weekend, Karnes said, the newly shined-up monuments \u2014 located near the Battleship Iowa Museum ship, where Fleet Week activities are centered \u2014 are sure to draw attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese names on these walls are people who died at sea and don\u2019t have any burial site,\u201d Karnes said of the Merchant Marine monument\u2019s significance.<\/p>\n

The damage done to a third monument honoring the founder of the ILWU is now repaired as well, said Greg Mitre, president of the ILWU\u2019s Pensioners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe replaced two of the medallions that were stolen off of the Harry Bridges bust with another type of material,\u201d Mitre said. \u201cWe are so glad the fisherman\u2019s memorial was returned to all its glory. It has an indelible mark in the history of San Pedro and many of the families that help found this great city of ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The union also has an annual event approaching that is held at the Bridges monument. May 15 is the group\u2019s annual \u201cFirst Blood\u201d gathering to honor those who have lost their lives working on the docks.<\/p>\n

The new president of the ILWU Local 13, Mario Medina, will be the keynote speaker. Medina\u2019s father\u2019s name, Mitre said, is among those listed on the granite monument.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial Wall of Honor (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer) Plaques have been stolen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,4064,131,133,132,47,137,100,1438,1439,77],"class_list":["post-296762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-local-history","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-news","tag-port-of-los-angeles","tag-san-pedro","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}