Nothing happened, so he returned the next year, and the year after that.

But, finally, with the prompting of City Manager David Knapp in January 2001, the city council unanimously voted to make the donation, making Cupertino one of the first city governments to contribute to the WWII Memorial.

With the memorial's recent unveiling to the public, the council is honoring Conens' efforts with a city proclamation recognizing the contributions of the soldiers who fought in World War II.

Conens, 78, is a WWII veteran himself, having served on the USS Antietam, a Navy aircraft carrier in the North Pacific. He operated the gasoline pump that served departing planes. "If it wasn't for these guys, we wouldn't be where we are. A lot of them paid the price," Conens says. "Cupertino is a pretty well-off place, and I thought $5,000 was a fair amount."

While he originally attended city council meetings to share his thoughts on city naming policies, Conens felt compelled to ask for financial assistance on behalf of the memorial's fundraisers. But the Brown Act prevents governmental bodies from acting on proposals that aren't on that meeting's agenda, which is why the idea kept fading into city council transcripts.

At the first council meeting of 2001, Conens brought up the proposal again, and the newly installed Knapp reminded the council members that they could vote on the $5,000 donation if it was on the agenda at the next meeting. They did so, and the money was on its way to Washington within the next month.

"World War II was a pivotal moment for the United States," Knapp says.

The memorial, which consists of 56 granite pillars and a Freedom Wall with 4,000 gold stars, opened for public viewing on April 29 and was dedicated a month later over Memorial Day weekend. Recent surgery prevented Conens from attending the ceremonies, but after visiting the Vietnam and Korean war memorials, he hopes to one day view the structure that his efforts helped build. "It's been a long time coming," he says. "I just hope that when people go there, they don't just view it as bronze and granite."

Funding for the memorial came almost entirely through private contributions—more than $195 million worth. At the June 7 city council meeting, when Mayor Sandy James presented Conens with the proclamation, he learned a bit more about how groundbreaking his efforts were. "She said that we were one of the first cities to donate," he says. Conens has since taken the proclamation to the Cupertino Senior Center, where he will leave it for a short time before taking it back to City Hall.

"We have quite a few veterans in the city," he says. "I see them from time to time." Conens and his wife still live in Cupertino, where they raised their five children, and are involved with a number of organizations, including the Concerned Citizens of Cupertino. But these recent events have gotten Conens thinking more about past events that led him and the United States to this point, especially those who didn't come back. "I was lucky, but a lot of guys weren't," he says.