A Korean War veteran who served under one of America’s most revered generals says the park honoring his legacy has collapsed into “the last stop on the road to despair.”
For Richard Reggio, 92, arecent visit to MacArthur Parkwith the California Post ended with a single, bitter thought: “I wish I never saw this.”
Reggio isn’t easily shaken. He served during the Korean War era in the US Air Force as an air traffic controller under Gen. Douglas MacArthur — the five-star general who is the park’s namesake. He’s seen command. He’s seen accountability. He knows what leadership looks like.
What he saw atMacArthur Parkwas the brutal opposite. “If they’re going to maintain it [the park] like this, they might as well pave it over. Just looking at this place — it’s a nightmare.”
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What stood in front of him looked less like a public park and more like the aftermath of a city that walked away.MacArthur Park resembles a zombie landscapeleft behind after civic collapse.
Trash carpets the ground — there’s rotting food, shredded clothing, busted shopping carts — and where grass once grew – it’s just dirt. Used needles lay openly along walkways and benches, turning every step into a minefield for the 92-year-old veteran.
“The smell is putrid. Overwhelming,” Reggio said.
Reggio first knew MacArthur Park as a boy — it’s the first place his father ever brought him when they moved to Los Angeles.
Those early visits stayed with him for decades, fixed in his mind as a symbol of order, beauty and civic pride.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
