Photo Gallery: Residents Honor Local Heroes

The bright sun and blue ocean made for a perfect picture backdrop Saturday in Redondo Beach as a group of residents gathered to pay tribute to fallen and surviving heroes in the U.S. military. 

The 5^th annual Empty Chair Memorial ceremony was held on Sapphire Street, where a sculpture of an empty white chair waits for spirits of local fallen soldiers to come back.

"I know it sounds goofy, but I sometimes see them sitting on the chair," said Rev. Bhagavan Friend, who spearheaded a campaign to build the memorial on his front lawn.

"With this chair, our soldiers always have a place to come home and we will remember them."

This year, the memorial event was dedicated to Capt. Robert E. Thomas Jr., a WWII veteran and survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. 

Thomas, 91, talked about a solider who died in front of him on that day. "I think of him quite often, " Thomas said. "He was 19 years old, he's 19 years old today, and he will be 19 forever. He was a hero to me. No honors, no medals, no recognition, just another one of our guys who died fighting for his country."

Other guest speakers at the event included: Col. James I. Town, U.S. Army; Booker Cole, Redondo Beach Police Department officer and Air Force veteran; Elder Goold and Elder Brantly of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Pete Kesterson, a candidate for the 36^th Congressional District; and Robert Rappaport, Redondo Beach Fire Department division chief.