Veterans Welcomed Home by California Governor During Midway Ceremony

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Josh Cassatt, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West

June 4, 2010 - SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- California veterans were honored in a ceremony aboard the USS Midway (CV 41) Museum June 3 as part of California Veterans (CalVet) Corps' Operation Welcome Home.

Operation Welcome Home, established by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is the first program in the country to combine the efforts of state, federal and local governments, non-profit organizations and the private sector to provide veterans the services they need to transition home.

"We have to do everything we can to receive these veterans with open arms and to thank them for the great services they provided," Schwarzenegger said. "We want our veterans to feel welcomed in California; whatever their needs are, whatever their dreams are, whatever their goals are, we want to help them."

The goal of the CalVet Corps is to help veterans gain access to benefits and services such as employment assistance, job training, education opportunities, housing assistance, health care needs, and more.

"Our goal is to connect with each and every one of our veterans," Schwarzenegger said. "We want them to move smoothly from the battlefront to the home front. California is a place veterans can call home."

According to CalVet Corps, every year an estimated 30,000 veterans return home to California to reconnect with family and friends and restart their civilian lives.