Vietnam Veterans honored and funds arrive for improvements to the Veterans building in Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - On this National Vietnam War Veterans Day, Santa Barbara area vets are hearing about improvements to one of their special gathering places.

Special federal funding has been approved for seismic and other safety upgrades to six locations in Santa Barbara County.

They include the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Barbara, The Goleta Valley Community Center, the Escalante Meadows Community Center in Guadalupe, LeRoy Park in Guadalupe, the Lompoc Health Clinic, and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Waste Water Treatment Plant.

Overall the federal funds total $9.5-million.

Rep. Salud Carbajal (D)-California, attended a special luncheon for Vietnam veterans Sunday and said the approved funds at that building will go to work right away. "We're going to have seismic renovations to improve safety and we are going to do all the windows and electrical for this building and make sure we have the HVAC system up and running."

Carbajal is a veteran who served in the U.S. Marines.