Veteran helps clothe, feed others

HELPING VETERANS: Iraq War veteran Dale Streetman, left, chairman of the North Valley Stand Down, makes it his mission to help other veterans who are less fortunate than himself. This year, thieves broke into the Stand Down supply storage unit and made off with $20,000 in supplies just days before it was to be given to homeless and needy Veterans.

Smiling, U.S. Marines veteran Dale Streetman said he is still recovering from the recent Stand Down event, held Oct. 23-25. Many low-income veterans found a variety of social services, received medical care or got a new change of clothes.

Streetman has chaired the North Valley Stand Down for the past two years and was involved with the program since it was brought to the area four years ago.

Regardless, Streetman, formerly a Quartermaster at the Anderson Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, was defiantly humble when asked how he's helped veterans.

"How do you say someone else is better because of what you did?" Streetman, 38, asked. "Three hundred veterans went through this year's Stand Down, but that's not Dale Streetman," he said. "It's the people, community, and group of volunteers that has done so much. I'd be lying if I said it was me."

With Veterans Day only observed once per calendar year on Nov. 11, Streetman, an Anderson Union High School graduate, demonstrates an active awareness for the well-being of veterans. His awareness leads him to noticing and meeting homeless veterans often, he said.

When asked where he meets them, Streetman responded that encounters are common when walking down Market Street or Pine Street in Redding, or even on a side trail in a local park.

"Unless you look for it, you don't see it," Streetman said of homeless veterans. "It's not a new problem, just one that's finally being addressed."

Streetman remembered his grandmother talking about homeless World War I veterans that she had encountered.

While problems such as job loss and homelessness are not particular to military veterans, Streetman said veterans are particularly loathe to asking for help.

"The military instills a strong sense of pride," Streetman said. "It's a hard pill to swallow to ask for help."

Streetman met two single fathers at a Stand Down event who brought their sons. They broke down and cried because they felt they had shown their sons they could not take care of them, Streetman said

While the military teaches recruits to improvise, adapt and overcome, sometimes something happens in life that you can't overcome, and you don't have your brothers in arms to pull you through, Streetman said.

Streetman's own obstacle was going blind, and later, he began losing his hearing as well.

After returning home from Operation Desert Storm, Streetman said many veterans developed nerve problems. His nerve problems have led to retinitis pigmentosa, which is rare degenerative eye disease which is even rarer to develop rather than genetically inherit, he said.

"I didn't accept it at first," Streetman said of losing his sight. "Me and my wife went round and round...."

Streetman has been legally blind for four years. Yet, after he finally learned to cope with his blindness, Streetman said his hearing began to fail. Streetman said he immediately blamed himself.

"My poor family," Streetman recalled thinking of his wife, Teri, and their five children. "I don't want to be a burden. I'm terrible to my family."

Streetman said it was hard to accept having his driver's license taken away and not being able to do things he felt a grown man should.

For Streetman, he said he needed someone to "remind me that I am a Marine. Semper Fidelis is not a word, but a way of life," he said. "I won't let (blindness) stop me from doing what has to be done."

Helping other veterans, Streetman added, is what has to be done.

While he intends to step down as chairman of the Stand Down, Streetman said he will continue to play an active role. Streetman said that the organization was still feeling the effects of the alleged burglary of a storage unit.

The latest estimation of losses from the Stand Down organization is $23,000, or three years worth of accumulated supplies, Streetman said.

Streetman still thanked the community for the rush of support the organization received.

"We got really blessed that the community came forward like it did," Streetman said. "My phone was constantly busy. People wanted to know what we needed right then and there."

To donate or volunteer with North Valley Stand Down, call 209-4306.