After 17 years in the U.S. Army, Juan Griffin left with many stories to tell about his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no one he enjoys swapping stories with more, than the veterans who live at the Veterans Home of California-Barstow.

“When they tell me about their deployment experiences, they’re the same as my own—just from a different era,” said Griffin, the Home’s health and safety officer. “They went through the exact same things.”

A field artillery officer who finished his career just up the road at Fort Irwin, he struck up conversations with a World War II vet who also was in artillery. That vet—that friend—who has since died, but lives on in the stories told.

Some of Griffin’s best and most poignant memories come from making it to the end of his tours of duty, and then getting home safely.

His unit came under attack on their last mission in Iraq in 2006. “We made it to the last patrol, we did what we normally did—pray before leaving the wire (compound),” Griffin said. “We jumped around, did our head-on-a-swivel chant, last minute comms (communications) and weapons checks. We made sure coolers had drinks and ice, loaded up all vehicles, (did) personnel checks, and away we went. It was the most stressful that I felt the whole year.”

His convoy hit an improvised explosive device—both soldiers and vehicles came through unscathed.

“When we got back in the wire safe and sound we celebrated, I think, all night. We took the steaks that we had bought at Camp Taji and grilled them and sat at our makeshift dinner table and just joked all night,” Griffin said. “I will never forget just sitting there thinking that we made it. (We were even) more excited when we landed back at Fort Bragg, N.C.”

When he came to the Barstow Veterans Home, he found that many of his conversations with the veterans also centered on their feelings of relief and joy when they knew they were going to come home, and when they arrived safe and, in most cases, sound.

Which is what he works to maintain at the Home, where he handles security, compliance, policies, procedures, and inspections. A veteran serving veterans.

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This is one of a series of CalVet Connect posts introducing you to CalVet employees who are veterans of the United States Armed Forces—thus, “Veterans Serving Veterans.”

The Veterans Homes of California system of care offers affordable long-term care to older and disabled veterans as well as their eligible spouses and domestic partners. With eight facilities across the state, the services offered range from assisted living programs with minimal support to 24-hour skilled nursing care for veterans with significant clinical needs including memory care.

CalVet staff are uniquely capable of serving the needs of our veterans and provide an environment that honors their service to the country. The Veterans Homes are nationally recognized for the premier care and services they provide to California’s veterans. ​For more information on the Homes visit www.calvet.ca.gov/calvet-programs/veteran-homes.

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.