New VA clinic holds special meaning for Caltrans worker

By Erin McQueary
District 10 public information officer

The Richard A. Pittman VA Clinic opened in May in French Camp, making critical services more accessible to tens of thousands of veterans living in the same counties served by District 10.

If the clinic's namesake sounds familiar, you’ve likely had the pleasure of working with District 10 Staff Services Manager Tina Pittman-Carr during the past five years.

Tina is one of four daughters born to Master Sergeant Richard Pittman, a Stockton native and a Vietnam War Veteran who served more than two decades in the Marines. He was the only Medal of Honor recipient from San Joaquin County.

“We always knew he was legendary; we always knew he was a warrior and a hero, but we never really grasped the concept of what that meant, and he didn’t want us to, he just wanted to be our dad,” Tina said following an April 25 Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the clinic off Manthey Road.

Tina didn’t even learn her dad was a Medal of Honor recipient until he came to speak at a career day event at her junior high.

President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Richard the Medal of Honor on May 14, 1968, six months before Tina and her twin sister Gina were born.

Richard was inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s historical address: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Richard was determined to serve his country despite being turned away by multiple military branches for being blind in his right eye.  

Tina said her dad was able to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserves by cheating on the eye exam, covering his right eye twice instead of switching to the left. Determined to serve on active duty, Richard volunteered for a tour in Vietnam in 1966, according to a 2011 oral history report about his service. “He passed up a coveted engineering position, electing to become an infantryman on the front lines instead,” according to the report.

On July 24, 1966, Richard and his platoon were just outside the demilitarized zone in the Republic of Vietnam. Richard’s company was walking up a hill to establish a radio relay point when the Marines in front of him came under attack.

Richard took a machine gun and several belts of ammunition and ran toward the calls for help from his comrades. When he arrived at the front, the fighting had ceased.

“They were waiting to see if there was any more fire, if anybody was moving,” Richard said in the oral report. “They sent maybe a platoon up to find out what was going on and then boom, I'm there and they’re there. It was kind of like a tie and I started shooting first. There’s nothing else to do.”

Richard faced a frontal attack by nearly three dozen enemy fighters, dodging mortar, and small-arms fire.

Richard alone used the machine gun he brought, an enemy submachine gun, a pistol from a fallen comrade, and his last grenade, to force the enemy fighters to withdraw. According to the oral report, he then returned to assist his fallen comrades before rejoining his platoon.

His story is awe-inspiring, and it’s been told countless times. But Tina said her dad confided a few years before he passed that he hated when his citation was read at public events.

Tina said her dad told her, “It feels like we are celebrating the worst day of my life. For every life I saved, there are three I didn’t.”

“He felt like he wore that medal … for all of those who died there,” Tina said.

She said her dad suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and health complications from exposure to Agent Orange, but the closest VA health services were in the Bay Area. It wasn’t until he lost part of his leg and required extensive physical therapy that he started receiving services but had to make the trek to Palo Alto or Menlo Park.

Before he died in 2016, Richard was a dedicated advocate of veteran services and fought to have the clinic built in San Joaquin County. The clinic is just the beginning. There are plans in the works for a nursing home on the same site and Tina and her family continue to advocate for expanded services for physical therapy and PTSD treatment.

“It makes me so happy … that our local veterans have these services available to them in a tangible way,” Tina said. “It’s a start in the right direction and the very least we can do for them. They deserve it, they’ve earned it and whatever we can do to keep advocating for that, we will do for the rest of our lives.”

The VA clinic isn’t the first facility to be named after Richard Pittman. Tina’s two children attended Pittman Elementary School (now Pittman Charter), which opened in 2006.

The California State Assembly in February voted to dedicate a section of Interstate 5 in front of the hospital as the Richard Pittman Memorial Highway. Once the signs are made, they will be installed by District 10 Maintenance.

“To know that he lives on here forever – that’s pretty surreal,” Tina said.