Category History
Pearl Harbor attack lives on through memories and words of those who live on
On December 7, 1941, 78 years ago Saturday, Japan launched the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor that killed 2,403 military personnel and civilians, and drew the United States into World War II. Each year, we remember Pearl Harbor and those who perished. But with time and attrition taking their collective toll, the number of those […]
Veterans Homes of California-Ventura will fete decade of serving veterans, spouses
Residents and staff of the Veterans Home of California-Ventura (VHC-Ventura) will mark the Home’s first decade with a Founder’s Day celebration on December 4 in Ventura. Then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dedicated the Home on December 4, 2009, opening the facility and completing a project that was more than a decade in the making. It became the […]
U.S. Marines celebrate 244th birthday here, there, and everywhere Marines serve
Sunday marks the United States Marine Corps’ 244th birthday, and virtually every Marine anywhere in the world will celebrate in some form. The Corps’ heritage and history are drilled into every recruit from the day he or she arrives in boot camp or officer candidate school, said Anthony A. Lopez, Deputy, Communication Strategy and Ops, […]
The monumental task behind building the California Veterans Memorial at the Capitol
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The dozens of images etched onto the California Veterans Memorial in downtown Sacramento’s Capitol Park say not only a thousand words, but might also leave visitors with a thousand questions. Who were the men and women depicted on the 28-foot-tall obelisk? Where and when did they […]
‘You’re out of uniform!’ And that’s a good thing at Operation Dress Code, where women veterans can dress for success
SAN DIEGO – Five years after leaving the U.S. Coast Guard, Franchesca Avila emerged from Central Arkansas University with a degree in family and consumer science. Then came time to get a job as a civilian. The tight budget of a new graduate didn’t leave much extra cash for the attire she needed to interview […]
Remembering the Coast Guard, Marines crews who died in mid-air collision a decade ago
SACRAMENTO – On October 29, 2009, a Coast Guard HC-130 transport plane and a Marine AH-1 Cobra helicopter collided off the coast of Southern California. All seven crewmembers of the Hercules CG 1705 plane, based out of the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, perished along with two helicopter crewmen from Camp Pendleton. The collision […]
Pioneer, Trailblazer: Virginia Mae Days was one of a kind as CalVet director
NOTE: This is the second in a periodical series of stories about CalVet, its history, and its programs. In a secluded hallway inside the California Department of Veterans Affairs building in Sacramento, rows of photographs reflect the succession of CalVet’s leadership, from its inception in 1946 to present. One portrait stands out, but not because […]
California Vietnam Veterans Memorial gets 20 additional names
Twenty new names will join the nearly 6,000 already inscribed on the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial during a ceremony this Sunday in Capitol Park. The event will begin at noon. More than 200 relatives and friends of those being remembered are expected to attend. It will include welcoming remarks by Master of Ceremonies Martin J. […]
Twenty names, including first woman, etched into California Vietnam Veterans Memorial
SACRAMENTO – Like so many others who served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, U.S. Army Specialist 5 Adrienne Lee Schamp was exposed to Agent Orange, a powerful herbicide used to defoliate forests and crops that provided cover for North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. She worked in Army finance at Long Binh and […]
CalVet Women Veterans award winner Captain Elizabeth L. Hillman truly a trailblazer
In 2013, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee appointed former Air Force Captain Elizabeth L. Hillman, an expert on sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination in the military, to serve on a panel probing sexual assault in the military. The panel exposed how little progress had been made since the so-called “Tailhook” scandal of 1991, when […]
