Category Veterans Homes
Oorah! Marine Veteran Brings Calming Conversation to Fresno Home
It happens frequently when Samuel Tejeda strolls through the Veterans Home of California-Fresno. “One resident … every time he sees me, he yells ‘Oorah!’” said Tejeda. “He’ll see me in the hallway and yell it, and I’ll yell it back.” After all, that is the Marine battle cry or greeting, and once a Marine, always […]
Navy, Army Guard Veteran Will Soon End A Storied Career at Yountville Home
Of the CalVet employees we’ve featured thus far in our Veterans Serving Veterans series, Jeffrey Thirnbeck exemplifies that day-to-day dedication as much as any. He’s worked for the past 31 years as a custodian at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville, including at Holderman Hospital, where he ensures the facility is clean and safe for the […]
Helping Other Veterans Comes up Roses for Nurse at Barstow Home
As a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) at the Veterans Home of California-Barstow, U.S. Army veteran Kimberly Malott has a passion for caring for the Home’s veteran residents and their spouses. She also has a passion for passing out roses—at the behest of a veteran resident who routinely bought them for the women at the Home. […]
Different Wars, Similar Stories of Service and Coming Home
After 17 years in the U.S. Army, Juan Griffin left with many stories to tell about his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no one he enjoys swapping stories with more, than the veterans who live at the Veterans Home of California-Barstow. “When they tell me about their deployment experiences, they’re the same as […]
Seeing ‘Old Glory’ Adorning A Captured Enemy Ship Buoys Redding Doctor to Care for Other Veterans
In the pitch-blackness of a September night in 1987, the commander of an American cruiser in the Persian Gulf sounded general quarters. “He told us we were in the middle of an Iranian minefield,” said James Vogus—now chief physician and surgeon at the Veterans Home of California-Redding—a crew member that evening. “I wrote a letter […]
Veteran Chula Vista Couple Sent “Star Trek” Back to the Future for Its Vital Third Season
In the spring of 1967, the most futuristic television show of its time appeared headed into a black hole of oblivion. Driving up Highway 99 through the Central Valley, in a Volkswagen Bug with two kids in the back seat and no air conditioning, John and Bjo Trimble vowed to go where no fans had […]
Barstow Chaplain Counts His Blessings as a Veteran Serving Veterans
As the Protestant chaplain at the Veterans Home of California—Barstow, U.S. Army veteran William T. Young sees serving veterans as his divine duty. “I joined the Army in 1983 to pay back my missionary ‘debt,’” Young said. He spent the next 32 years ministering to the spiritual needs of soldiers—from Fort Totten in New York; […]
Picture This: Portraits of Korean War Era Veterans to Grace Chula Vista Home
CHULA VISTA – When Richard Mowrey sat during a portrait session at the Veterans Homes of California-Chula Vista one recent afternoon, he was “Richard.” Or “Mr. Mowrey.” That all changed the moment photographer Mickey Strand asked Mowrey his rank in the U.S. Navy. Mowrey replied, “CPO.” From that moment on, Mowrey—whose Navy career as a […]
Veterans Serving Veterans: Hand Caught in the Jelly Bean Jar
(This is the first in a series of CalVet Connect posts introducing you to CalVet employees who are veterans of the United States Armed Forces—thus Veterans Serving Veterans.) Long before Richard Blackford began protecting veterans at the Veterans Home of California-Redding, the Marine veteran was a lance corporal assigned to the security detail at the […]
VENTURA HOME ADMINISTRATOR BOND MOVING ON AFTER FOUR IMPRESSIVE YEARS
Julian Bond made a big impact during his four years as the administrator of the Veterans Homes of California-Ventura. Appointed to the post by Governor Gavin Newsom in the summer of 2019, Bond is leaving CalVet to become inspector general of the California Military Department. “Julian truly embodies the qualities of a remarkable leader,” said CalVet […]
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