In 1888, wealthy landowners donated prime Los Angeles real estate to the U.S. government to house military veterans. The gift “will cause land in that section to advance in value, and the trade thrown into the way of our merchants will be considerable,” wrote the Los Angeles Times. Today the 388-acre property abuts the Brentwood neighborhood and the UCLA campus, is some of the country’s most valuable real estate, and houses very few vets — many in tiny, temporary shelters. Meanwhile, L.A. has become the homeless veteran capital of America.
Why isn't this land, which once housed thousands of disabled soldiers, home to more veterans? The answer is a scandal in plain sight, a story of government malfeasance, neglect, graft, and even death.
This multi-part, multimedia feature tells the full story — from the property’s founding to the legal fight to take it back — of a centuries-spanning land war between the U.S. government, local forces, and generations of service members seeking a place to call home.
