NEWPORT BEACH

Veterans Receive Giant ‘Thank You’ Card

About 170 Newport Beach area residents signed a giant greeting card this week to show their gratitude to area veterans at Long Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The eight-foot card, decorated with hand-painted military emblems, was in the grocery store at Newport Dunes aquatic resort all week for visitors to see and sign.

A group of about 50 people enjoyed a flag-decorated cake and added their names to the card at a signing party yesterday, before it was delivered to the hospital.

Many of the water park’s guests are veterans, and many of those signed the card. Some were moved to tears by the opportunity to thank their peers.

“In honor of the 12 I left behind, we salute the veterans,” one person wrote.

“You didn’t let the enemy get you down, don’t let the VA get you down,” another wrote.

At the hospital, a group of 40 wheelchair-bound patients--most survivors of World War II--received the card on behalf of the patients.

Hospital spokeswoman Elaine Merrill said the card is on display in the medical center’s lobby, where other patients can stop to see the greetings.

“It allows them to start reminiscing and discussing things that happened to them during their service,” she said. “It gives them an opportunity to talk and feel recognized. It makes them feel remembered.”