Category Events

VIETNAM WAR VETERANS DAY: FOUR FRESNO VETERANS, FOUR DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
One went to Vietnam as an advisor, years before American forces went en masse. One had the greatest peanut butter and jelly sandwich of his life while manning a gun mount on a destroyer in the Tonkin Gulf. One tended to Vietnam War wounded at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. And another spent […]

TIME CAPSULE BOX FOR NEW SKILLED NURSING FACILITY PROJECT IN BEST OF HANDS
YOUNTVILLE – On one recent afternoon, Gordon Kirby, with a steady hand and a thin saw blade, cut a notch in a thick piece of deodor cedar destined to become a footstool or small bench. The 75-year-old Navy veteran spends his days in the woodshop of the Creative Arts Center at the Veterans Home of […]

NUMBERS OFFER PERSEPCTIVE ON VETERANS DAY IN THE GOLDEN STATE
As we celebrate Veterans Day, the numbers add up to the respect and appreciation our veterans deserve across the nation—and here in California. To sum it up: Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, to commemorate the armistice that began on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month (November 11, 1918) to […]

CALVET’S ANNUAL WOMEN VETERANS RECEPTION, TRAILBLAZER AWARDS SET – VIRTUALLY – FOR OCTOBER 27
The California Department of Veterans Affairs will host the 2021 Women Veterans Reception, including the presentations of the annual Trailblazer Awards, in a virtual event October 27, via Zoom. The event begins at 6 p.m., and will include remarks from CalVet Secretary Vito Imbasciani MD and Virginia Wimmer, CalVet’s new deputy secretary of Women Veterans […]

THANKING WW II VETERANS FROM THE OPEN COCKPIT OF A BI-PLANE
NAPA – Bob Bischoff climbed into the front seat of a 1943 Boeing Stearman bi-plane earlier this week for a joyride over the Napa Valley’s vineyards and neighborhoods. Referring to pilot Andrew Lohmar, Bischoff said “He would turn like this,” then turned his hands downward as if an airplane. The 95-year-old U.S. Army veteran continued, […]

HOW SOME PAST PRESIDENTS SPENT THEIR PRESIDENTS DAY
Presidents keep on working on the national holiday that many U.S. citizens have off.

CALIFORNIA ASTRONAUT FIRST TO FLY IN SPACE – NO STRINGS ATTACHED – 37 YEARS AGO TODAY
Imagine, being in outer space with no secure connection to the mothership. A bit unnerving, perhaps? Too Hollywood for you? Decades before George Clooney vanished into the galaxy in “Gravity” and Matt Damon took his chances in “The Martian,” Navy Captain Bruce McCandless II became the first person ever to fly untethered in outer space. […]

VETERANS DAY IS ITS STAR, BUT NOVEMBER 11 IS A MEMORABLE DAY FOR OTHER EVENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Since 1919, November 11 has held a special place in Americans’ hearts. That year, we celebrated Armistice Day for the first time, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I that came on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Then, in 1954, President Eisenhower renamed it Veterans […]

CALVET TO HONOR WOMEN VETERANS WITH TRAILBLAZER AWARDS IN VIRTUAL EVENT
Four women veterans will be honored virtually on Wednesday, October 21 during the annual 2020 Women Veterans Reception taking place from 6-7:30 p.m. The veterans will be recognized for their leadership and noteworthy impact on their communities with the annual California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) Trailblazer Award. The 2020 awardees are: Cecilia Salazar of […]