land in the late 1800s. it wasn t given to anybody but veterans for a home. but for vietnam the va decided no more, and the neighboring community said we don t want vietnam to save our vets out here, so the vets were kicked out. reporter: 4,000 vets once lived here, roughly the same number of homeless veterans in l.a. today. late last night in an l.a. courthouse a lawsuit was filed demanding that within six months the va offer housing to at least 3,500 vets on or around this land and not use this land for purposes that are not primarily related to providing housing and health care for veterans with disabilities. so no longer a private school s playground. what do you want to see happening around there? a lot. but the base thing is housing. reporter: joshua served in iraq, lived for a year outside the fence around this land.