Gloria Mooney, 73, wants to rent out the empty bedroom in her East Sonora mobile home. She needs the extra money to boost her shrinking disability income and keep her home. Plus, she admits, “I’m tired of being alone.” She signed up with Catholic Charities’ new Home Share program (see separate story) hoping to find
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Help is available for those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Various support groups and professionals at the local, state and national level offer help to both veterans and non-veterans dealing with PTSD.

The screaming rockets and bursts of cannon fire during the Vietnam War still haunt the dreams of Marine veteran Joe Garcia, 62. The nightmares and flashbacks are among many symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, which affects many war veterans and others. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a terrifying event where the
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Vietnam veterans braved a brutal war, then faced rejection at home. Decades later, many continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or illnesses linked to wartime chemical exposure. A growing number are homeless. Many have not taken advantage of veterans’ benefits. But that’s beginning to change, and in California, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 391
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On a wind-whipped morning in February 1945, 24-year-old Marine Sgt. Harry Roberson hunkered in a half-track churning across a black-sand beach at the base of Mt. Suribachi, his pulse racing. He and fellow soldiers in the 3rd Marine Division had already fought the Japanese on Guam, 700 miles to the south. But for Roberson, that
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This is a story about the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Honor Guard, which provides military honors at veterans’ funerals. Underlying it is another story – of the brotherhood between a former Marine and retired Navy combat pilot, and their shared devotion to Tuolumne County veterans.

By Frank Smart Veterans and their family members are eligible for burial in national cemeteries, but most are unaware of this benefit. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (commonly known as the VA) operates 124 of these national shrines, and 84 are open for new burials. Twenty accept only cremated remains. Honorably discharged veterans or
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Hutch, as he was known to his fellow airmen in the 423rd Squadron, flew 35 B-17 bombing missions over Germany and occupied Europe, attached to the Eighth Air Force’s 306th Bombardment Group based in Thurleigh, England. Here, he recounts his 34th mission, during which a German anti-aircraft shell exploded inside the plane he was flying.

By Frank Smart Elderly veterans and their families should be aware that there may be Veterans Administration (VA) benefits available to those veterans who are hospitalized or housebound. These benefits come in the form of monetary compensation, psychiatric counseling and other services. The majority of benefits are for those veterans, male or female, who served
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Montana native John Leslie was just a “pimply faced kid” when he joined the Navy on July 3, 1942 – his 18th birthday. He had begged his father, a coal miner, for permission to join the burgeoning US war effort a year earlier, to no avail. “When I showed up to enlist, I was the
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