Author Archives: Jeff Jardine
CALVET PRAISED FOR PROTECTING RESIDENTS, STAFF AT VETERANS HOMES DURING COVID-19 OUTBREAK
Politico featured the California Department of Veterans Affairs in a story that posted Tuesday, explaining CalVet’s success thus far in protecting veterans, their spouses, and employees at its eight Veterans Homes of California during the COVID-19 outbreak. Reporter Maggie Severns describes in great detail the proactive steps CalVet and Secretary Vito Imbasciani took when the […]
JUST FOUR NAMES OF CALIFORNIA’S FALLEN NEEDED FOR VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL WALL OF FACES
Four faces, four photographs to go: Tommy R. Henderson, Los Angeles, U.S. Army John E. Magee, Los Angeles, U.S. Army Vernon P. Smith, Los Angeles, U.S. Navy Frank Spotwood Jr., San Francisco, U.S. Army The mission: To find their photos and submit them to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall’s virtual Wall of Faces. Ah, if […]
SPIRIT OF ’45 DAY CELEBRATIONS – IN SPIRIT ONLY
Each of the past several years, the Veterans Museum at Balboa Park in San Diego honored the area’s World War II veterans on its “Spirit of ’45 Day.” In 2010, Congress designated the second Sunday of August as a day to pay tribute to the men and women who comprised the “Greatest Generation” of Americans. […]
230th BIRTHDAY JUST “DUCKY” FOR VENTURA HOME’S ONLY COAST GUARD VETERAN RESIDENT
Pardon Richard “Ducky” Brace when he says there was no middle ground when it came to his service in the U.S. Coast Guard in the mid- to late-1960s: He was either hot or cold with it. Indeed, Brace stayed toasty warm down in the engine rooms where he served as an engineman for two years […]
CALVET’S WEBINARS KEEP INFORMATION FLOWING DESPITE COVID-19 CLOSURES
Over six years ago, CalVet began offering a series of webinars to provide information important to California veterans and their families. While important then, they are even more vital today. Consequently, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and effectively shut down in-person outreach and veterans events, CalVet already had the experience, technology, and audience to expand […]
THIS MONTHS FIRE ABOARD A SHIP IN SAN DIEGO HAS COMPANY: DISASTER ON USS FORRESTAL IN 1967
Earlier this month, a fire burned for five days injuring 63 people aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard at Naval Base San Diego. The blaze is under investigation to determine the cause. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) are assisting with the probe, and questions remain as to whether the ship can […]
EH, WHAT’S UP, DOC? THAT WASCALLY WABBIT WHO WENT ON TO BECOME AN HONORARY MARINE
Pardon Bugs Bunny if he gets a bit, well, animated when it comes to being an Honorary United States Marine. After all, fewer than 100 have received the honor, and that wascally wabbit is part of an elite group that includes the late entertainer Bob Hope, movie star and veteran advocate Gary Sinise, and TV […]
CLIENT’S DETERMINATION, DEDICATION TO HER FAMILY DREW AGENT’S RESPECT, ADMIRATION, AND A CALVET HOME LOAN
Nearly two dozen photographs adorn a wall next to Lesa Walker’s desk in CalVet’s Home Loans Division in Sacramento. Each picture is special to Walker, who joined CalVet as an associate property agent in 2014. They are photos of veterans and their families who became clients, but also became her friends, her extended family, her […]
A VERY UN-CIVIL TIME IN CALIFORNIA’S SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
A recent CalVet Connect Post commemorated the 158th anniversary of the day in 1862 when President Lincoln signed into law what became the U.S. military’s Medal of Honor. CalVet’s Medal of Honor Wall and its Medal of Honor Hall at headquarters in Sacramento include three recipients from California who fought in the Civil War. What […]
THE BLAST FELT ALL THE WAY TO NEVADA: PORT CHICAGO EXPLOSION KILLED 320 SAILORS IN 1944
“The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” at Concord, Massachusetts in 1775 led to the deaths of eight Americans and increased the already heavy tensions between the colonists and the British as the Revolutionary War approached. Most Americans learned about it in elementary school. Fast-forward to another blast not found in school textbooks. This one happened […]
