DAV reaching out to women veterans

DAV reaching out to women veterans
By Don Bowen/Fremont Tribune
Wednesday, Jun 03, 2009 - 11:19:39 am CDT
Renee Barnes just wanted a place to fit in.

She had finished serving 13 years in the U.S. Army veterinary corps.

Like many soldiers who serve that long, her time in service took her to many places around the world and in different U.S. locations. But when her time was over in 1995, she didn’t know where to turn.


“I was hurt physically,” Barnes said, adding she also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder like many soldiers.

“A lot of things happened that I didn’t feel comfortable in the outside world,” she continued. “I really needed a place to feel like I belonged. In here, I feel like I belong.”

Two months ago, Barnes joined the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 18 in Fremont.

“I didn’t even know this existed,” she said, sitting around a table at the DAV building at the corner of D and Second streets in downtown Fremont with a group of other veterans.

DAV service officer and past chapter commander Al Martinez said Barnes is one of two women who are among the nearly 200 members of the Fremont DAV.

But Martinez pointed out that even though there are only two women members in the military veterans organization, he has helped at least 20 women over the past few years get military disability benefits.

“We give them the option to join,” he said. “We’d like them to join, but we don’t require it. We’re here to help all veterans.”
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DAV reaching out to women veterans