Soon after Lawrence Jones moved into the Veterans Home of California-Lancaster in 2012, a fellow veteran told him he was now in “Heaven’s waiting room.”

It didn’t take Jones long to understand what the older vet meant.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Jones soon discovered his own, once-elusive bliss there at the Home. A quality of life, he said, that has been lifesaving. Friends and staff that are his family—now that his parents and brothers are all gone. A place, he said, that is home for holidays and every other day for the remainder of his life, which he believes will last longer by virtue of being there.

Heaven’s waiting room, indeed.

“I remembered what he said,” Jones said. “It’s beautiful.”

He adopted the mantra as is own, and wrote those words on a small white board next to the door to his room.

The Vietnam War veteran will eagerly profess to anyone within earshot his gratitude for the safety, security, and accommodations the Home provides. It represents a 180-degree turnaround from a life of homelessness, alcohol and substance abuse he experienced before he moved in.

Jones’ road to the Lancaster Home began in West Covina during the winter of 1968 when he and a friend received their draft notices. They decided to enlist so they could “control” their military futures.

“He (his friend) said, ‘I’ll go to the Marines and kick ass!’” Jones said. “I wanted no part of that, so I went into the Navy. The funny thing is, he went to a ship and I ended up with land duty in Vietnam.”

In fact, Jones soon found himself aboard the USS Sacramento—a combined fleet oiler, ammunitions, and refrigerated goods transport ship—and later on the USS Camden, also a Sacramento-Class support ship.

“Ships would pull up alongside, and we’d send over bombs for the Tet Offensive,” Jones said.

Still only 18 years old, orders took him into Saigon, where he shared a hotel room with three South Korean soldiers (350,000 South Korean soldiers served in Vietnam) who spoke no English while he spoke no Korean.

“We never let that bother us,” he said. “We became good friends.”

He then went to Da Nang, where the U.S. stockpiled the defoliant Agent Orange, and where he was exposed to it in a most mind-boggling way.

“There were cases of beer stored outside with this orange stuff on the tops of the cans,” he said. “We never thought a thing about it. We drank it anyway.”

Strangely, or not, he said the beer inside those cans and other substances he began using while in Vietnam have thus far had a greater impact upon him than the toxic defoliant. He’s experienced no serious illnesses attributable to Agent Orange, though he received a 10 percent disability rating due to exposure.

Jones left the Navy in 1974 after two years on active duty and four more in the Naval Reserve in a career that also took him to Guam, the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, Hawaii, and Wake Island. When he returned home to Southern California, Jones became a caregiver at a nursing home, which led to an 11-year career as a private home health caregiver to clients that included some Hollywood celebrities.

“My first private-duty job was caring for Jimmy Durante,” Jones said, referring to the legendary comedian and actor. “Different stars would come over to see him, including Red Buttons and Red Skelton.”

He also cared for Lewis Milestone, whose directorial credits included “All Quiet on the West Front” in 1930 and “Mutiny on the Bounty” in 1962 (the Marlon Brando remake).

Throughout all of this, Jones said he dealt with underlying alcohol and substance abuse issues and struggled to find help.

“I got into trouble with alcohol and drugs and was facing jail time,” Jones said. He went to the federal Veterans Affairs, which got him into a retraining program and hired him to work in its decontamination program. He retired in 2010, but his issues continued and he found himself virtually homeless, living the next two years in a camper on his brother’s property in Quartz Hill, just minutes from the Lancaster Home.

“I wasn’t living like a guy should at my age,” said Jones, now in his mid-70s. “I wasn’t living right. Then I got into it with my brother. I went to the VFW in Quartz Hill and they sent me down here.”

“Here” being the Lancaster Home, where as a veteran facing homelessness he was fast-tracked into a room and a new life.

“Staff at the Home hurried me in and helped me out immensely,” Jones said.

Living at the Home enables him to focus on his health and well-being.

“I’m healthier,” Jones said. “We have a dietician here. We have a walk-in hot tub and a massage chair. I’m learning how to paint. There is no room for stress here. All of our needs are met. I feel like a million bucks, and I feel like this every day.”

Lancaster Administrator Elvie Ancheta said Jones is a great cheerleader for the Home, inside and out.

“He’s very grateful, and he’s always talking about the good things about living here,” Ancheta said. “He’s on the resident council, and he lets others know how good they have it. I wish I could clone him and put one of him in every corner. And I’m proud of the way we have (helped) him from being nearly homeless to where he is today.”

They’ve helped him in other ways, too. Jones’ military records were among those destroyed when the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis burned in 1973. Joe DiBenedetto, the Lancaster Home’s Supervising Rehabilitation Therapist, set upon rebuilding Jones’ entire military personnel file including medical and dental records, and is working to replace his lost service medals.

Jones’ appreciation extends to the Antelope Valley community, which is very supportive of the Home and the veterans who live there.

“During the holidays, people from all over the community bring tons of gifts and are so good to us,” he said. “It’s beautiful. To live like this in the last years of my life is a wonderful thing.”

Heaven’s waiting room, and words to live by.

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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 career opportunities at www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalVet.