(This is the first in a series of CalVet Connect posts introducing you to CalVet employees who are veterans of the United States Armed Forces—thus Veterans Serving Veterans.)

Long before Richard Blackford began protecting veterans at the Veterans Home of California-Redding, the Marine veteran was a lance corporal assigned to the security detail at the White House and at Camp David, Maryland.

“I served two presidents,’’ Blackford said. “President Reagan and the first President Bush.”

He chatted frequently with Reagan—even rode horses with him. And they shared something else in common: Each had a sweet tooth. One day while aboard Air Force One, Blackford helped himself to some jelly beans that Reagan loved so famously and kept on hand.

“I got my hand stuck in the jar,” Blackford said. “He was coming on board. It was all I could do to get my hand out in time to salute him.”

Reagan noticed Blackford scrambling to free his paw from the jar. Reagan said nothing, but certainly didn’t forget it.

“He sent me a case of ‘Jelly Bellies,’” Blackford said.

Blackford joined CalVet eight years ago, bringing his security expertise to the Redding Home—sans the endless supply of jelly beans.

“It is a daily honor to serve my fellow veterans at the Home,” Blackford said. “Their stories are priceless, the things they did for our military … the stories of their sacrifice. It’s very humbling.”

Would you like the opportunity to serve veterans in your work? Join the CalVet team! We are dedicated to ensuring that veterans from every era, along with their families, receive the state and federal benefits and services they have earned and deserve due to their selfless and honorable military service. At CalVet, we prioritize serving veterans and their families with dignity, compassion, and a commitment to helping them achieve the highest quality of life. See our current job openings at www.calvet.ca.gov/jobs.