On FOX 11 for Veterans Day
On November 11, 2026, Veterans Day, FOX 11’s Good Day LA brought Medi Bendanna, the owner of Best Framing in Costa Mesa, into the studio to talk about keeping the memories of the men and women who served. One of the hosts, a veteran himself, said that when he left the service he had uniforms and a sword, did not know what to do with them, and ended up getting rid of it all. Medi came to show what else can be done with them.
Three pieces from a collector
When Medi got into custom framing, he learned that a frame is about presentation and preservation, and military pieces are among his favorites to preserve. For the segment he framed three pieces bought at a local military surplus store from a collector who served in the Navy in the seventies. They now stay in the shop’s showroom, so customers who walk in can see what is possible with what they keep at home.
A cap you can see inside
The World War Two army cap stands in a table-top shadow box rather than on a wall, with a mirror set inside it. From the right angle you see the inside of the cap, the insignia and the owner’s inscription, without anyone handling it. The shop built one like it before for an NYPD cap with a picture of the Virgin Mary inside, in a gold frame.
A sword that still comes out
The sword is a 1902 officer’s sword, a model carried through World War One and World War Two. It is held in its case by magnets instead of being fixed in place, so it lifts out to be shown to friends and goes back in, and the case can hang vertically or horizontally.
A pilot’s cloth map, and what protects it
The third piece is an Army Air Forces cloth chart of Japan and the South China Seas, the kind of map pilots carried inside their jackets: cloth holds up if it gets wet and makes no noise. Period photographs of World War Two aircraft and ships are set onto it. Four things protect it: UV glass, so daylight does not change its colors; an acid-free foam board behind it, because the cardboard behind most old pictures is what discolors them; a paper dust cover on the back that keeps insects out; and a solid wood frame around the whole piece.
More than a flag case
Most families keep a folded flag in a standard case. Custom framing starts from the piece itself, whether it is a full uniform, a grandfather’s jacket, a badge or a map, and from how it should be kept. For Medi, the reaction of a family when they come in to pick their piece up is one of the most rewarding parts of the work.
The full segment is below, and on FOX 11’s site. Bring your own pieces to the counter in Costa Mesa.
