Author Archives: Jeff Jardine
Disabled veteran and small business owners lose longtime advocate Angel Carrera
Disabled veterans and other small business owners lost a great friend when Angel Carrera died suddenly on August 14. Carrera, 67, spent four decades working for the state of California, administering the Small Business and Disabled Business Enterprise programs for the California Lottery and then for the Department of Transportation. He also worked as an […]
California Veterans Board adds three new appointees to advocate for veterans
With the appointments of Zoe Dunning, Ed Campbell, and Robin Umberg, the California Veterans Board has added three new members in 2019. Dunning and Campbell were appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom. Governor Jerry Brown appointed Umberg in December 2018. She was sworn in on January 2. The seven-member board hears appeals by veterans who were […]
August 14 celebrates Native Americans’ roles as “Code Talkers” during World War II
During World War II, Native Americans played a key role in the war against the Axis. They confounded the enemy by using the Navajo language to send secret information from the front lines. The enemy could hear the messages, which they couldn’t decipher because the Navajo language was unfamiliar to them. Consequently, these “code talkers,” […]
A WW II victory so historically important that it merits two commemorative days
How important was the Allied defeat of Japan that ended World War II in 1945? So important that V-J Day – V standing for Victory, J for Japan – is commemorated not once but twice in less than a month. The first – August 14 – is the day Japan admitted defeat by Allied forces, […]
Today is National Purple Heart Day, honoring those wounded or killed in wars, conflicts
August 7 is National Purple Heart Day, honoring the recipients of America’s oldest award for military merit. Created by General George Washington as the Badge of Merit in 1782, it was awarded for “any singularly meritorious action” in battle. That changed in 1931, when, at the behest of General Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. War Department […]
28th Annual Sacramento Stand Down ready to give military veterans a boost
In times of war, the term “stand down” represents a break. A break from the fighting. A chance to eat a hot meal, to sleep on a cot instead of the ground, and maybe to get a shower. Some time to regroup, to decompress, and to rejuvenate before heading back into the fray. Some veterans […]
New administrator brings “will-do” attitude to Veterans Home of California-Yountville
Lisa Peake believes that whether you are sent to Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else, attitude makes the difference between drudgery and doable. “If you say ‘this deployment is going to be horrible,’ it will,” said Peake, who retired from the California National Guard as a “full-bird colonel” in May, ending a 30-year career in […]
Veterans with CalVet home loans among those sorting out their futures in Paradise
Navy veteran Jim Davis saw an ominous sky as he headed out to the woodwork shop at his home in Paradise one morning in November 2018. “A really strange cloud,” he said. Davis sensed immediately that it soon would be raining fire, not water. He packed up what he could, then quickly left his property. […]
Indigestible field chows become culinary masterpieces at CalVet’s MRE Cooking Challenge
What did we learn about a Meal Ready-to-Eat? That it can’t stump the experts, or at least not during CalVet’s 7th MRE Cooking Challenge at the California State Fair on Thursday. They turned the virtually indestructible and — to some in the military – indigestible field sustenance known as the Meal-Ready-to-Eat into works of culinary […]
Bond-ing family’s tradition of public service with CalVet’s Veterans Home in Ventura
When 49-year-old Julian Bond was recently appointed by Governor Newsom to run the Veterans Home of California-Ventura, CalVet got more than just an experienced administrator. It received a retired Army colonel from a family with a long, distinguished, and storied history of public service. His great-grandfather, James Bond, was born into slavery during the Civil […]
