One day during the early months of 2018, soon after she hired on as the office technician in CalVet’s Communications Division, U.S. Women’s Army Corps veteran Yulana Low handled a telephone call she will never forget.

“The older brother of a young veteran couldn’t get over his brother’s death,” she said. “I believe he was suffering from PTSD over his brother’s death. During the 30-minute call, I listened to him as he talked about his brother, and I winced each time he (detailed the way his brother took his own life). I didn’t know how to help him, so I just listened. It was the most emotional call I’ve ever had.”

Throughout our ongoing “Veterans Serving Veterans” series, CalVet employees who work in our various divisions and are veterans have shared the joys of making a difference in the lives of some of California’s roughly 1.6 million veterans.

By lending a sympathetic ear that day, Low no doubt made an impact on that distraught caller. She’s continued to make a difference for veterans every day since. Sometimes, she directs veterans or their families to the resources they need to access their earned veterans benefits. Often, callers confuse CalVet with the federal U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and she’ll provide contact information for that agency’s services. Other times, she’ll connect them with CalVet divisions such as Veterans Services, Veterans Homes, or Home Loans. Then there are the emotional ones, though seldom as heart-wrenching as that call handled during her early days on the job. She quickly learned how to address those.

“I know now to refer a caller to the Veterans Crisis Hotline—988 plus option 1—and other resources available through the County Veterans Service Offices and local veterans service providers,” Low said.

She’s likely saved lives in doing so, and at a time when veteran suicides are happening at an alarming rate. Prevention campaigns are front and center in California and across the nation.

Low’s time and duties in the Army not only taught her about processes and procedures, but also helps her to connect with other veterans on a personal level.  

She spent five years (1968-73) as an administrative specialist, serving during the Vietnam War era. Always a quick study, her duty stations included Fort McClellan, Alabama, for basic training and an honor graduate; and Fort Gordon, Georgia, where she graduated in the top five percent at Signal School. She then went to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where she worked in the U.S. Army Strategic Communications Command and in the office of the Secretary of the General’s Staff. Low then went to the Pentagon, where she worked for the Office of the Secretary of the Army as one of two WACs until separating from service in May 1973.

Her stories about the absurdity of base routines—things they also experienced in mess halls and other quirks of military life—can break the ice and diffuse other veterans’ frustrations.

“During our eight weeks of basic training, my platoon endured KP, or kitchen police, each week,” Low said. “I wish I could have seen my face the first time one of the kitchen sergeants told me to get a mop and ‘mop this floor dry.’ I’m here to tell you that it can be done. The mop is wrung out as much as possible, and you move it back and forth across the floor until it is dry.”

Indeed, she speaks “veteran” fluently. Sometimes, that simply means listening. Other times, its informing in a language they understand. And it’s always vital to CalVet’s mission of advocating for veterans. “I’ve had many other satisfying calls in which I was able to assist someone, and it is gratifying when the caller thanks me for answering the phone,” she said.

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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.”

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.