Ronald Reagan-Palisades Post 283, which has served as a community hub following the Jan. 2025 fire, hosts remembrance ceremony.
Richard Lombari and his wife were in Hong Kong on their way back to the United States when he got a phone call that would change his life. His wife’s daughter called in a panic to tell the pair about the Palisades Fire and their house was right in the fire’s path.
While she was able to get out of the house, the Lombari's home was burned to the ground – a part of more than 6,800 structures destroyed in the fire.
But Lombari – second vice commander of Ronald Reagan-Palisades Post 283 – didn’t let the loss of his home put him on a path of self-pity. Rather, he and many of the members of Post 283 did what they’ve always done: serve others.
And they’ve continued to do so, most recently organizing and hosting a Jan. 7 "White Glove Flag Presentation and Remembrance Ceremony" on the one-year anniversary of the fire. The event brought together members of the community, civic leaders and recovery partners, and honored those who lost their lives in the fire, as well as recognizing individuals and groups who have helped the community recover.
“When we’re in the Palisades now, your home burning, in a very strange way, doesn’t make you special. Because so many people’s homes burned to the ground,” said Lombari, who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1985 to 1988. “We can rebuild our lives. Our position is we’re incredibly blessed and thankful for where we’re at.”
Post 283 was one of the few structures in the area still standing after the fire and went on to serve as a disaster relief center, providing resources, information, paperwork, meals and a place for people in the community to come together and know they were not alone. And it was Legionnaires like Lombari and other members of the post who assisted with those efforts.
“The reality is this: For us, having that military background is like, ‘OK, and now what?’ That’s the question I always ask,” Lombari said. “I’m not sure society as a whole has that same mindset. But it’s, ‘What can we do now?’ When we started looking at this, it was … ‘OK, how do we serve. How do we help our neighbors that have lost their homes? What can we do?’ It’s just an instinct.
“Part of what made us truly who we are was being in the military. Our purpose was service. We know when something comes up, it’s for, ‘How can we serve?’”
As the one-year anniversary of the fire approached, members of Post 283 knew they needed to do something to honor those lost and others assisting with rebuilding the community.
“We knew this was going to be an emotional time,” Lombari said. “There had not been an event that gave proper remembrance to the people that perished in the fire. We decided we had to do something special for this. (Past Post Commander Jim) Cragg came up with this particular plan. We all collaborated on it, but initially it was his idea with the white glove ceremony to give honor and respect to the dead and to the families of the perished. It was just a heartfelt, sincere ceremony to give that respect.”
The ceremony was a collaboration between Post 283 and the Palisades Long Term Recovery Group (Pali LTRG), of which Cragg is president and board chairman, while Lombari serves as vice chairman. The Pali LTRG was formed in direct response to the continuing challenges following the fire, is comprised of local community leaders and is supported by the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD). Its mission is to provide comprehensive recovery services to fire victims.
But when the anniversary came around, the day was about remembering and honoring. The day started with a private remembrance and tribute program from 9 to 10 a.m., which featured a white glove presentation of folded U.S. flags for families of those lost and invited guests. A young girl also passed out a single white rose to the families of those lost.
The day also included the dedication of Post 283’s “Survivor Flag,” which flew over the post during and after the fire; a color guard presentation and procession from the post to the Village Green that included representatives from The American Legion, the Army National Guard, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and other relief organizations; a ringing of the bells, wreath presentations and a moment of remembrance on the Village Green honoring those lost; and a community lunch at Post 283.
The ceremony itself will remain with Lombari for a long time.
“I was handing the folded flags with my white gloves to Jim. Jim was presenting them individually to, first off, the families, and then to the community members that had been instrumental in setting up our next phase of recovery,” he said. “Knowing what many of these people had lost … everybody that was there, 99 percent of them also had some kind of loss in the fire. I was teary-eyed the entire time.
“The people coming up to receive their flags were crying and grateful and really felt their loved ones were honored. Or that their efforts were seen in the rebuilding. It was truly a beautiful and moving ceremony.”
- Community