Up went the tents and in came the vets, as hundreds of former military personnel from all branches and eras flocked to the Dixon may Fair grounds on Tuesday for the 10th annual North Bay Stand down.
During the three-day event that saw rows of tents pop up across the grounds, veterans were encouraged to take advantage of the many services that range from haircuts and showers to counseling sessions and legal consultation — all aimed at helping them get back on their feet.
Marvin Lindsay, a 41-year-old Air Force veteran, has been coming to the Stand down every year for the last five years, he said.
According to Lindsay, the event “helps vets get their lives back.”
Now living in Santa Rosa, Lindsay said the event is “a good opportunity to come and enjoy myself,” as well as to “be a positive influence to other veterans.”
According to Jeff Jewell, a team leader at the Veterans Center in Sacramento, this year’s Stand down has draw an even larger crowd than in the past, with more than 250 veterans showing up the first morning.
“It’s giving them a hand up,” said Jewell, quoting the motto inscribed on the logo of his polo shirt: “A hand up, not a hand out.”
“We’ve got to take care of our veterans,” he said.
Jewell said that nearly 50 percent of the veterans qualify as “truly homeless,” while a number of others are hardly better off, resorting to “couch surfing” at the homes of friends without really having a place to call their own.
Jewell, who spend seven-and-a-half years in the Air Force himself beginning in the early ’70s, said the event also helps with providing dental care and medical care, as well as help in other areas, such as DMV wiping out tickets in order to make it easier for vets to get on the road.
Tuesday was the first Stand down experience for former Marine Joe Frederich of Vacaville. Now homeless and jobless since the collapse of the economy, the 53-year-old said he came to the event in search of help and to learn about some of the VA benefits available to him.
According to Frederich, his problems didn’t set in immediately after his discharge from the military. He worked as a truck driver and moved to Ohio along with his wife.
“Then it was easy, there were jobs everywhere,” he said. that, however, that is no longer the case, Frederich said.
Frederich moved back to California, then Vacaville, where he was born, after his wife died and since then, “it just went down,” he said.
Still, Frederich remained optimistic that he would be able to find at least some of the help he need.
“They can probably help me a lot one way or another,” he said.
Also experiencing the Stand down for the first time was Santa Rosa resident John Capps.
According to Capps, he came to the event in order to have a better idea about what is available to veterans in terms of benefits. the former Army sergeant spent 12 years in the military before being discharged in 1998, but was virtually unaware of any of his veteran benefits until 2007.
“So far I’m finding that the Stand down is a pretty big deal because pretty much everything’s here,” he said. “So it’s pretty much so far, so good.”
Since leaving the military, Capps took over the window washing business of his father — also a veteran.
“A lot of veterans … believe that nobody’s really there to help them out, but people just need to look, they need to get busy,” he said. “I’m finding you have to look very hard to see something like this.”
Where once veterans were left feeling “abandoned” with the “You’re done. have a nice day. thanks for the memories.” mentality once they leave the military, Capps said he has seen a number of efforts to find housing for those who find themselves homeless.
“They’re trying to reach out and get these people places to live. even though I’m not in that situation, it’s good that they have a program like this,” he said.
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