Tag Archives: Veterans

Navy veteran Don Windle in uniform and now.

MAY A MONTH OF REMEMBRANCE FOR THREE-WAR VET AT REDDING HOME

May is a month of remembrances for 96-year-old U.S. Navy veteran Don Windle. On May 5, 1944, the Navy launched his ship, the USS Aaron Ward (DM-34), a destroyer minelayer commissioned in October of that year. On May 3, 1945, two days shy of a year of its launching and during its first and only […]

WOMAN VETERAN DECAL IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR CALIFORNIA ‘HONORING VETERANS’ LICENSE PLATE

When President Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act into law on June 12, 1948, women could finally serve as permanent, regular members of the four major branches of the American military. Up until 1948, women serving in the auxiliary branches performed duties in four categories: baking, clerical, driving, and medical. During WWII, the […]

Photo of Women Veterans writing workshop and CalVet logo

VOLUNTEER TEACHES VETERANS HOW TO BETTER TELL THEIR STORIES

Most veterans have a story to tell, from boot camp or base life, from deployments to discharge. Sometimes, they just need tips on how to tell it. Kristine Mietzner loves to help them. The former journalist, retired educator, and now a staff services manager in CalVet’s Veterans Homes division has spent more than a decade […]

Photo of James E. Swett and CalVet Logo

80 YEARS AGO, MARINE PILOT SHOT DOWN SEVEN JAPANESE PLANES IN ONE DAY, EARNED MEDAL OF HONOR

CalVet’s Medal of Honor Wall includes 177 names of soldiers, sailors, and Marines, either from California or with California ties, who received the nation’s highest honor for heroism and valor. Each recipient and the circumstances that led to awarding the honor is a story in its own right. This time, we tell the story of […]

Photo of Army Captain Tina Knutson in Iraq.

RETIRED ARMY MAJOR WANTS WOMEN VETERANS TO REMEMBER THEIR MILITARY-ACQUIRED SKILLS

As a U.S. Army Reservist serving in a psyops (psychological operations) unit in Iraq in 2021, Tina Knutson and her team got into the minds of Iraqi citizens while deployed to Baghdad. As a police officer and hostage negotiator during her 21-year career in law enforcement in the Alameda County city of Newark, she once […]

Magdalena Leones accepts the citation for the Silver Cross.

YES, TEACHER, GRANDMA REALLY WAS A SOLDIER, SPY, GUERILLA, AND SILVER STAR RECIPIENT

As the story goes, when Corporal Magdalena “Maggie” Leones’ granddaughter wrote a report about her grandma for a school assignment, the teacher simply didn’t believe it. Believe what? Or, was the girl simply a grandchild with an overactive imagination? Prove it, the teacher told her. Prove it, Maggie’s granddaughter did. She brought the Silver Star […]

Headshot of U.S. Army veterans Rankin.

THE GAME OF HIS LIFE PRODUCED MAJOR RESULTS

Larry Rankin faced a big decision after graduating from high school in Michigan more than two decades ago. Go to college? “I wasn’t ready for college,” he said. OK, then, follow in his Navy dad’s footsteps by joining a branch of the military? “Not for me,” Rankin said. “Never.” Then, a funny thing happened on […]

Photo of the veteran designation on a CA drivers license.

FOR WHOM THE TOLLS DON’T APPLY: ELIGIBLE VETS WON’T PAY FOR BRIDGE CROSSINGS AMONG NEW LAWS IN 2023

When the clock struck midnight and rang in 2023, it brought several new laws that will honor and benefit many of California’s 1.6 million military veterans. All were signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022. Perhaps the most notable of them? We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it – literally, figuratively, and seriously. […]

Famous photo of Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry.

GO AHEAD, MAKE MY VETERANS DAY: WHEN FORT ORD WAS A SPRINGBOARD TO HOLLYWOOD

From World War I through the first Gulf War, Fort Ord was a U.S. Army base known for producing soldiers. Today, it is home to CalVet’s California Central Coast Veterans Cemetery and also to Cal State University-Monterey Bay, among other things. For a few years in the early 1950s, however, the outpost on the Monterey […]

Incarcerated veterans listen to benefits presentation at Mule Creek State Prison presentation.

THE ‘THANK-YOU’ NOTES THAT MEAN SO MUCH TO CALVET’S ANALYSTS HELPING INCARCERATED VETERANS

Steven Smith scrolled through his emails one day a few months ago, and came across one that simply moved him. Smith, a United States Navy Veteran, is among the seven veterans claims analysts working directly with incarcerated veterans in California’s 35 state prisons through CalVet’s Justice Involved Veterans Initiative. The analysts help veterans—many imprisoned for […]