Central Coast veterans honored in a special pinning ceremony for their service

MONTECITO, Calif. - In a special community outreach effort, a veteran pinning ceremony took place at the Friendship Center for Seniors in Montecito.

Fourteen vets were given the special recognition.

For some of those attending, even though they served years ago, they were never thanked when they returned from duty.

Marine Veteran Alfred Falcon was in Vietnam and said, "I was telling my boss this is the first time I've been honored,  first time ever.  Felt pretty good."

The ceremony was coordinated by VNA Health and Serenity House, the Friendship Center, Goleta Noontime Rotary, Rosewood Miramar and several other contributors who have supported this outreach effort.

Corinne Rink with VNA Health/Serenity House said, "as far a I know we have never done a group event like this."

Honoring veterans with this type of event is often a smaller ceremony in the late stages of life. More of these larger events may be planned going forward.

Rink said, "we have the opportunity to do this primarily for hospice patients, and sometimes that's too late and so we love opportunities to be out in the community"

Air Force Veteran Sally Reagan said, "it's really nice to come back and see fellow veterans and see people honor us. "

While some veterans say their service was a distant memory,  one man said it shaped his younger years and helped him afford medical school.

Army Veteran Peter Delvette said, "being in the service for me was just one of the highlights of my life. My wife and I had just got married. We were living overseas and it really bound us as a couple."