The opening of the Richard A. Pittman VA Clinic was a long time in the making.
Try two decades, said local U.S. Army veteran and retired East Union Lancers JRTOC instructor Karl Knutsen.
The ribbon-cutting of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient medical center at 6505 S. Manthey Rd. in French Camp was held Thursday morning featured government officials and VA officials, who were joined by a strong turnout of local veterans from throughout the area.
Tino Adame Jr., who played a strong role in providing support not to mention the resources to make possible the 158,000-square-foot clinic – a $505 million project – participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
He’s a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Vietnam Purple Heart recipient from Stockton. Adame praised the community and veterans for coming together and bring greater health care to veterans of Central California.
He reflected on the countless meetings at the Karl Ross Post 16 and with the Stockton City Council and the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.
Adame was among the guest speakers at the special event.
Included were Executive Director Jason Nietupski of Facilities Planning & Development Division at UC Davis Health; Major Gen. Kimberly Colloton, Deputy Commanding General for Military & International Operations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Michael Parrish, Principal Executive Director for the Office of Acquisition, Logistics & Construction; Gerald R. Cox, Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Quality & Patient Safety; and Thomas J. Fitzgerald III, former VAPAHCS Director & U.S. Army Veteran.
The keynote speakers were Julie and Patricia Pittman, respectively, the daughter and wife of the late Richard A. Pittman, a local veteran and advocate for the expansion of veteran health care.
He passed away in 2016 at age 71.
Pittman was born on May 26, 1945 in French Camp. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1965 and, a year later, was on a trail near the Demilitarized Zone in the Republic of Vietnam when the Marines ahead of him came under attack.
Upon hearing the attack, Pittman, who was a Lance Corporal, took a machine gun and several belts of ammo and rushed to aid his comrades – he used a combination of machine gun fire, an enemy submachine gun, a pistol from a fall comrade, and a grenade in forcing the enemy to withdraw.
Pittman was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson on May 14, 1968, and went to complete more than two decades in the U.S. Marine Corps.
According to Julie Pittman, the ceremony that also honored her father, who was born at neighboring San Joaquin General, was a full-circle moment.
The first patients of the new Richard A. Pittman VA Clinic will arrive on Tuesday.
Parrish noted that plans are already in the works to expand the facility to include a 120-bed community living center and urgent care.
Locally, Knutsen and others welcomed the new VA clinic. Depending on the services, they’ll still be referred to Palo Alto VA, Mather VA, and Livermore VA, to name a few.
They’re thrilled to finally have the Richard A. Pittman VA Clinic nearby.
