Author Archives: Jeff Jardine
A TRIVIAL PURSUIT THIS LABOR DAY CONNECTS PRESIDENT FORD, TOKYO ROSE, AND CULT MEMBER
Do a little digging, and connections are bound to surface. Today – September 5 – certainly supports that theory, and this time it involves former President Gerald R. Ford. How so? On September 5, 1945, an American-born woman of Japanese ancestry named Iva Toguri D’Aquino was arrested in Japan and soon after returned to the […]
CALVET PROGRAM DOES JUSTICE TO THE CONCEPT OF HELPING INCARCERATED VETERANS
Mary Donovan, a veterans claims analyst with CalVet, talked benefits with about 30 veterans in the Sierra foothills community of Ione one recent morning. This wasn’t just any veterans’ group, though. All are inmates at Mule Creek State Prison, and among the more than 5,000 military veterans incarcerated in California’s 34 adult state prisons. Despite […]
STAR AND INTERNET POWER GAVE VETERANS A WIN WITHOUT THE VIOLENCE THAT MET THEIR PREDECESSORS 90 YEARS AGO
A few weeks ago, with celebrity Jon Stewart giving an impassioned speech on their behalf, U.S. military veterans pleaded for Congress to pass the $280 billion PACT Act to help those suffering from toxic burn pit exposures and other service-related health threats. Using the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop, 100 or so veterans staged a […]
Parachute that Brought Supplies to American Pows Now Dressing up Display at Redding Veterans Home
A yellow toddler’s dress might be the last thing you’d expect to find showcased at a veterans home. Photographs, medals, battlefield souvenirs, or old newspaper clippings? Sure. But a little yellow silk dress? Yet, there is displayed in the Hall of Honor deep inside the Veterans Homes of California-Redding, on loan from the family of […]
STATE’S PURPLE HEART TRAILS LEAD TO GRATITUDE, RESPECT FOR MEDAL RECIPIENTS ON DAILY BASIS
Perhaps, as you’ve motored down one of California’s major highways, you’ve noticed a sign that reads “Purple Heart Trail.” Today is National Purple Heart Day, the day each year when we honor members of our military – whether killed in action or living veterans carrying the physical scars of war – who were wounded while […]
CHULA VISTA VETERAN ‘DRAGONS’ HOME A SLEW OF RIBBONS FROM SAN DIEGO COUNTY FAIR
What do you get when a military veteran is also a veteran woodcrafter? In Alisa Shvorin’s case, plenty of ribbons. A Vietnam War-era Air Force veteran and resident at the Veterans Homes of California-Chula Vista, Shvorin won two major awards during the 2022 San Diego County Fair that concluded on the Fourth of July.
Happy Rebirth-Day to the United States Marine Corps, with Another Cake in November
Happy rebirth-day to the United States Marine Corps! Rebirth-day? Let us explain. The Marine Corps traditionally celebrates its birthday on November 10 each year, recognizing the decision by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to establish two battalions of Marines. They were known then as the Continental Marines, because the United States was still in […]
He Signed His John Hancock Right There, on the Declaration of Independence
Granted, this was more prevalent in the days before electronic digital signatures, but you’ve probably heard the term at some point: “Sign your John Hancock right here!” As we celebrate the United States of America’s birthday, no signature on the Declaration of Independence – our first Hallmark moment – stands out bigger, bolder and with […]
CALVET HOME LOANS TEAM PROVIDES CALMING INFLUENCE, HAPPINESS FOR VETERAN STRESSED BY FINANCING SNAFU
CalVet Home Loans client and Army veteran Mark Dust will tell you that a bomb in the road in Iraq in 2005 and the bombshell news he encountered last month each wracked his nerves similarly. In 2005, infantryman Dust rode on the hood of a Humvee that suffered major damage, avoiding obliteration only because the […]
