Category History
Honoring Legacy: A CalVet Staff Member’s Commitment to Veterans Inspired by Family Military Service
Stories of service that resonate. Stories that inspire. Stories that move us. Many such stories are shared on America’s back porches, in living rooms and, on occasion, around campfires in the woods. Or they are not told at all, which speaks volumes about the impacts of war some veterans experienced. Keith Smothers said the stories […]
CalVet Deputy Secretary’s Native American Military Heritage Spans 138 Years
As California Native American Day (September 27) nears, CalVet salutes the more than 13,200 Native Americans among the state’s 1.5 million military veterans and their families. Add Coby Petersen, CalVet’s deputy secretary for the Veterans Homes Division for the past decade, to the list. Petersen is a retired U.S. Army colonel, is one-quarter Navajo, and […]
Witnessing Apollo XI’s Liftoff Gave Lancaster Home Veteran One Giant Memory
On July 20, 1969 – 55 years ago this month – astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first earthling to set foot on the moon. The words he uttered as he descended from Apollo XI’s lunar module, dubbed “The Eagle,” still resonate “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.” David Lewis, a […]
Marine Veteran’s Final Mission: Helping Comrade’s Family Understand Their Loved One’s Supreme Sacrifice
Marine veteran Albert Bonin had one last hill to take — one last mission to carry out — as his health began to fail in 2008. This one involved memories and words instead of bullets, mortars, and grenades. The Irvine resident, then in his late 80s, deemed it nearly as important as what he and […]
The Black Civil War Veteran Who Cemented His Place in Sacramento History
Long before Marcus Langley made his reputation as a concrete contractor in Sacramento, he made history as a member of the 14th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery unit fighting for the Union during the Civil War. The 14th was formed in North Carolina, his birthplace, in 1864. Langley, a 25-year-old who listed his occupation as a […]
Black History Month: Col. Allen Allensworth’s Vision Highlights U.S. Veterans’ Commitment to Building Strong Communities
In 1908, Colonel Allen Allensworth came to Tulare County in the southern San Joaquin Valley to create a town where African Americans could self-govern and be independent. Born in 1842, Allensworth was 12 years old when he defied a Kentucky law that prohibited enslaved people from learning to read or write. As punishment for learning […]
CalVet Employee Hollis Had a Say in Creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day
They, too, had a dream. In 1979, after Congress had yet again failed to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday, a group of students from an Oakland high school refused to take “no” for an answer. To the contrary, the Apollos—members of Oakland Technical High School’s Class of 1981—became students on a […]
What in the Worlds? Civil War Veteran and Journalist’s Close Encounter with ‘Martians’ Near Lodi in 1896
On the eve of Halloween in 1938, Orson Welles mystified six million American listeners with his radio spoof of “War of The Worlds,” based upon H.G. Wells’ novel by the same name and published 40 years earlier. Vanity Fair magazine in 2015 called the broadcast “the world’s first viral fake-news media event.” Ever since that […]
VETERANS WELL REPRESENTED AMONG CALIFORNIA HALL OF FAME’S 2023 CLASS INDUCTEES
An Asian American woman who became a World War II Army pilot and a physicist. A World War II Army veteran who became the first openly gay man to run for public office in the United States. A Tuskegee Airman and Olympic 400 meters champion who went on to enjoy a long and successful career […]
California’s First Fourth of July Celebration Predated Statehood
All across America, people in cities big and small will celebrate the nation’s 247th birthday this week with parades, picnics, parties, and patriotism. Old Glory, fireworks, food, and fun, and it’s been that way since 1777—when the first event took place in Philadelphia a year after the Declaration of Independence was, well, declared. But who […]
calvetconnect.blog 