Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans
Welcome Home is a Willing Warriors and the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run project. The program highlights activities at the Warrior Retreat and issues impacting all Veterans. For questions or feedback, please email us at podcast@willingwarriors.org.
Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans
Resilience in Crisis: Supporting Veterans Through California Wildfires
Join us as we sit down with Commander Joe Ramirez from the American Legion Post 283 in Pacific Palisades, California, for an eye-opening conversation about the recent wildfire crisis that nearly brought their close-knit veteran community to its knees. With compelling firsthand accounts, Commander Ramirez sheds light on the harrowing experience of evacuating with the flames encroaching dangerously close, the fear of losing their beloved post, and the devastation faced by nearly 100 members who lost their homes or were displaced. Get an insider's view of how veterans from Vietnam, Desert Storm, and post-9/11 eras demonstrated resilience and adaptability, using technology to stay connected even amidst chaos and uncertainty.
Discover how you can play a part in the ongoing efforts to support those affected by visiting alpost283.com/fire. Our conversation takes a deep dive into the challenges of organizing aid during such destruction and the critical need for gap funding to provide immediate relief. Learn about the steadfast community support that has emerged, from monetary donations to volunteer efforts and the determination of American Legion leaders to rebuild stronger. Despite the uncertainty of when they can return to their physical post, the spirit of recovery and unity shines through in this powerful episode.
Good morning. I'm your host, larry Zilliox, Director of Culinary Services, here at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run this week. Our guest is Commander Joe Ramirez. He's commander of the American Legion Post 283 in Pacific Palisades, California, which I'm sure everybody is well aware that that's an area that's just been ravaged by wildfires recently, and I did a little bit of research and looking online and it turned out the post itself was spared, but not by much. The fire was really knocking at their front door out and was really happy that Commander could join us and we'll just spend a little time talking about the post, talking about the members and veterans in the community at large. So, commander, thanks for joining us.
Joe Ramirez:Well, you're quite welcome and I can tell you how appreciative not only myself, but I probably speak for everybody for having an opportunity to provide awareness. It's a tragic event, situation, unexpected, but interestingly, you know, being veterans, we are kind of conditioned to deal with this. I would say the only difference is that literally, this is hitting home, and so when it hits home, literally your house, it becomes a different scenario. But we're going to be stronger than ever as we work together and with our community to come out of this.
Larry Zilliox:Tell us a little bit about the post. How big is the post? It's located right sort of downtown there. I think you share a building with the post office. Tell us a little bit about the post and your membership.
Joe Ramirez:Well, probably, like most American legions were post, we have a good portion of Vietnam veterans that kind of carried on the legacy from the World War II, and we have a good portion of Desert Storm and then now post-911. And we're up to about 700-plus numbers. Wow, yeah. And out of the 700, probably close to 100 were affected by the disaster. Either they lost their homes completely or they become displaced. And I don't know if you know anything about the American Legion, but they also have a family, which is the sons of American Legion and then the auxiliary. When you put it all together, we've got a couple thousand members that belong to the post.
Larry Zilliox:Your post is right downtown and the fire was right there. It was a block away. A whole lot of homes very close to the post were destroyed. Kind of walk us through what it was like when the fire broke out and start to come in the direction of the post, what that was like for the members and for you to think geez, are we going to lose the post or what's going to happen?
Joe Ramirez:You know, really good question. And, by the way, it was closer than a block away we're talking. It was across the street. That's how close the fire came to our building. To step back a little bit and share with you where I was, I was actually at another building a few blocks over and you hear the fire engines and the sirens and you know you hear that quite a bit right, whether it's on the freeway or once in a while in the residence. You know, either at home, but you never really kind of in your mind conceive that this is going to affect you. So I was, you know, at my office and I stepped out onto the, you know, the front of the office and I saw the smoke and then I thought, well, this is bad, went back in and about I don't know, maybe seven minutes later I come back out and I could see the flames, literally a parking lot over, and that's when I thought, okay, I'm going to be a part of the evacuation, and got in my car and got out.
Joe Ramirez:Now the post particularly same thing. They were starting to realize that they needed to evacuate and when that happened and some people actually, because the cars got so jammed up, had to leave their cars just in the middle of the road, had to leave their cars just in the middle of the road and they had to use a forklift to move those cars over when they were trying to put out the fire. So it became a mess rather quickly and you probably have heard Some of the criticism as a result of, you know, not being fully prepared, and that is all true. But getting back to the affecting the post, once we all evacuated, then it was watching the TV, texting each other back and forth to see whose house was spared and, of course, was the American Legion spared? And that was a very intense time period for all of us. It was almost like watching a thriller on Netflix. We just were so worried, as you can imagine, about damage and physical harm. And then at some point and sorry for carrying on this way, but I think it's important information At some point, point we started thinking of people that we haven't heard from. So imagine that like, wow, I hope Larry's okay, I hope Rich is okay.
Joe Ramirez:So then it became an even more intense time period. It was about 24 to 48 hours before we kind of had like a little check-in, so to speak. Thank goodness for technology. And then after about 48 hours we didn't know if the post was still standing. We some people actually, as military terms would describe infiltrated onto the area and when we shouldn't have done including myself, about three days later and there was able to get pictures of the post to let everyone know that we were fine. And I actually have a video and I put it online, I'll be glad to share it with you of one of our members being right there in the middle of the fire, and I mean he was in his car. It was just a tremendous, tremendous risk he took, but he was so worried about his property that he had to go out and check it out. He made it and it was fine. It was kind of a dumb thing that he did and he would admit that, but that's how intense this whole thing was when that all went down.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah, wow. Well, yeah, we know that veterans are adaptable and that they can be very often more prepared than many other people for this sort of situation, but then the gravity of it, the size of it and just the trauma of it can be overwhelming. And I know, you know, a lot of our veterans have issues with PTS and that kind of thing. And how do you think it's affected the mental health of veterans in the area?
Joe Ramirez:Too early to tell.
Joe Ramirez:It's too early to tell, but you can see signs of shock and awe and despair, especially if I'm talking to somebody and they were able to get an apartment or a hotel, and when they communicate to you in a very humble way, not even actually almost protecting their own selves, and you find out that they only have two pairs of clothes or there's not even a microwave to heat something up.
Joe Ramirez:You know something, as you know, simple as that, that we take for granted, completely gone, and I think we're going to and we're gearing up for having to deal with that because, gratefully, or we've been blessed with having counselors as part of our membership who specialize in counseling and, of course, we're within 20 minutes of the VA. So we're going to be something we're definitely going to be addressing now as it pops up. As you probably would know and see out there, although it's changing, the veteran is not the first person, the first in line to say, hey, I need help with therapy, and I can tell you from personal experience when I got out of Operation Desert Storm, I didn't want to do it myself.
Larry Zilliox:So, yeah, yeah, we know, we're well aware that veterans loathe asking for help and they are the ones that usually help, and, yeah, this is not the time for that. This is an all-hand situation. I want to direct our listeners to the webpage, which is wwwalpost238.com. So it's alpost283.com, so it's alpost283.com and then, if you then use forward slash fire, you'll go right to a page on the website that details a lot of what we've talked about, but I want to draw everyone's attention to.
Larry Zilliox:There's a button after the first paragraph on the right that says donate, and I want all of our listeners to bang on that button and give what they can, because this is going to be a long duration event. There are going to be needs that have to be met for some time, and the VA will have a part in it. Fema has a part in it. Fema has a part in it, a lot of nonprofits have a part in it, and the Legion will have a part in it, and so it's really important for Legionnaires around the country just everyone to go ahead and make that donation. And the most important thing to understand here is you are giving a donation directly to the people who need it and who will manage it properly.
Larry Zilliox:Unfortunately, in times like this, you get all sorts of GoFundMe things pop up and organizations that come out of nowhere, that are set up to help and you just don't know who you're giving your money to. So you can give your money to the Red Cross, you can give your money to Team Rubicon, you can give your money to Post 283, and I guarantee you that they will use it wisely and it will go directly to help veterans in the Pacific Palisades area that will need it now as well as long-term, as they try to rebuild their lives. So, commander, aside from money, if we have veterans listening who are local to your area, is there anything that they can do? Make actual physical donations or volunteer in some way? What's the kind of support that the Post is getting from the community?
Joe Ramirez:some way. What's the kind of support that the post is getting from the community? Well, I got to tell you it's overwhelming funds and volunteers and donations other than monetary, and the challenge has been how to organize when you're not allowed on the property and when you don't know who needs what. So we're getting there and where we are today, at this moment, is setting up a distribution center with all of the stuff that has been donated and we have actually trucks ready to come in. And, by the way I just want to make sure I mention this the American Legion as a whole, from the national to the department, to the area, to the district, they're all really really a part of this joint effort.
Joe Ramirez:That being said, we're not the only ones that need the help. You know, as you probably have seen, there's other fires and, if you want to see some positivity or look at some positive aspects to this, there is a community including veterans coming together to help out all people in need. And I mean, if you think about when we signed up to join the military, we're serving our country and we're doing this on a local level, serving our city, the county, the local community and, of course, ourselves. So that's kind of a sidebar. I wanted to kind of make sure I threw out there. But, that being said, we on that page that you're talking about there is a place to sign up for volunteers and then there's a place to donate and we have someone in charge of the volunteers and it's sort of like sign up and we'll give back to you because we're still getting the logistics place set up.
Joe Ramirez:And, by the way, the funds, if I can elaborate just a little bit on that, I think there is this thinking that the government, when it comes to FEMA or their claims on their insurance, or maybe even the state that we're going to be taken care of, right, and we all hope and pray that that is true, but the funds are used for what I call gap funding, when someone needs money now because they're trying to get into a hotel room or because they're trying to buy a pair of shoes or a meal, even, and so that's what that money is doing and it's extremely valuable when you have somebody and we just wired $1,000, not wired, I think we did a Venmo someone just yesterday because they lost his house and said, hey, I don never asked for anything, but I'm at the point where I'm desperate and any help would do and I'm like this guy's a veteran.
Joe Ramirez:He doesn't even realize that the American Legion is there for him and he belongs in the American Legion and I guess that goes to being a bit in shock and you're not going to operate at your best, especially when you have a personal tragedy or something that's affecting you personally. So you know we're dealing with all of that the best we can and I got to really thank the leaders of the post. There's about 10 or 11 on the board, along with probably another 20, who? 20 people I would consider leaders all helping out with this strategy and organizing and reorganizing and you know, changing and shifting, sometimes not only on a daily basis but, you know, on an hourly basis.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah, so have authorities given you any idea of when you might have access to the post again, the physical location?
Joe Ramirez:Well, we hear different rumors, from the fire department to the police department, to the people in the press, that it could be literally just a few days or it could be as long as a year, and the reason, I think, for the uncertainty, the wide range, is because they themselves also, I think, are trying to understand the magnitude of the toxicity there. It's one thing that a house situation, when it comes to the air, it goes on and on. I was there yesterday and you know it's just like 9-11. You see stuff still coming off, coming out from the ground and you know the fire has kind of been put out.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah.
Joe Ramirez:For the most part in that area.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah, and you're talking with a very large amount of destruction. I mean, if people take the time, go to your web page. There's a map on there that they'll have access to to show exactly there and that was all right next to you, and it's just an area of hundreds of homes destroyed all at once. So it's not like a neighbor's home or a couple of homes burnt and you know you don't have to be too worried about toxicity based on just that. But here you have that. Multiply that by 100, and it's just crazy to think about it.
Larry Zilliox:Well, listen, I don't want to keep you. I know you're a busy guy. Again, I want to tell our listeners go to the webpage. It's wwwalpost283.com. Once you're there, hit that donate button. Give what you can help your fellow Legionnaires, or you know, they'll help the community as well. So it's not just you know. We're hoarding all this for the guys that pay their dues. Legionnaires give back to the community nonstop, all the time, and so listen, commander, we wish you the very best. If there's anything you'd like to get the word on out, just let me know and we'll have you back on. But I can't thank you enough for spending a little time with us today.
Joe Ramirez:Well, thank you so much. I really really appreciate it and, as I mentioned at the start of this, not only are we going to get through this, we're going to get through this stronger and better and hopefully, hopefully, a closer community when it comes to relations. You know we've had some really rough years in the political spectrum and veterans aren't away from it because you know we are part of the country. So the silver lining perhaps to all this that this will bring us together, that's, I guess, where I was leading to. So, thank you very much.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah Well, thank you for joining us and for our listeners. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can reach us at podcast at willingwarriorsorg. We'll have another episode next Monday morning at 0500. Until then, thanks for listening.
