When Bernie Ramirez logged onto Facebook the morning of March 23, the Hollister resident had never heard of San Benito High School’s Baler Strong Awards. Then he stumbled onto a Facebook post from his niece congratulating him on receiving the award. “It was a shock, a complete surprise,” the 71-year-old Vietnam veteran recalled.
It was Lauretta Avina, a guidance technician at San Benito High School, who thought of recognizing Ramirez. Veterans continue to benefit from the many programs Ramirez started through Hollister’s VFW Post 9242.
Alvina first met him through the post over 10 years ago. “I loved his energy,” she said of Ramirez. “He had all these ideas. So when [SBHS administrators] asked the staff what community members should be nominated for the Baler Strong award, I wondered if Bernie had received a community one yet, and he hadn’t. So I nominated him, and I was so pleased when he was awarded.”
Aside from programs he began at Post 9242, Ramirez has helped Avina with high school students who are dependents of veterans. He has met with parents affected by post-traumatic stress disorder, and has assisted them in receiving the proper care through the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.
“People have to understand that [by helping other veterans], it opens up his old wounds as well, and puts his own mental health at risk,” Avina explained. “The fact that Bernie is willing to do that for parents of mine, who happen to be veterans—I can’t even find the words to thank him.”
Ramirez said, “I’ve always thought that what I do, when I donate or whatever, that it’s just the right thing to do. It’s not something you expect anything from. So I was just very humbled and honored that they would even think of me in that sense.”
But to many Hollister residents, the recognition is overdue.
Ramirez grew up in Hollister and chose to leave high school before his class graduated in 1970. “There was just nothing that interested me in school; nobody was driving me to continue my education,” he said. He joined the Army at 17 and was deployed to Vietnam at 18. He served with the 3/5th Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division, in 1969 and 1970.
After his service, he returned to Hollister and worked in grocery stores, first as a butcher and then a clerk. He then worked for Pepsi-Cola for 20 years before starting his own landscaping business, which he did for 10 years. He and his wife Palmira raised their three children in Hollister.
Ramirez joined the VFW Post 9242 as a member in 2008, then served as its commander from 2016 to 2018. During his time as a member and commander, he helped make significant changes with VFW Post 9242. The recognition he gives others through events and services continues to help local veterans, active duty soldiers and the Hollister community today.
For instance, he brought the Banner Program to Hollister in 2014, when he hung the first ones along San Benito Street on Veterans Day. They continue to be raised every Veterans Day and Memorial Day for Hollister residents currently serving in the U.S. military.
Ramirez also began the I Care Package program six years ago. VFW members and volunteers meet at the Hollister Veterans Hall every two to three months to assemble and mail out 40 to 50 packages. Ramirez includes community donations (using a list of recommended items) and letters in each of these packages.
He also established the Post 9242’s annual Golf Tournament in 2013 to raise money for VFW services and scholarships for graduating SBHS seniors.
The tournament is held at San Juan Oaks Golf and Country Club each year on the third Friday of June. It’s gone from raising $1,000 in its first year, to $10,000 in 2018.
In recent years that figure has remained consistent, allowing 10 SBHS students to receive a $1,000 scholarship. Ramirez said this year’s tournament will likely be postponed as was last year’s, but he aims to raise $10,000—as he did last year—by reaching out to prospective donors.
SBHS students have not only benefited from the scholarship opportunities Post 9242 has provided, but also from the education they’ve received. With Ramirez’s prompting, Post 9242 members now make regular visits to Hollister schools, educating students about the Vietnam War, its veterans, and etiquette for handling and saluting the American flag.
Avina pointed out that, with most veterans, their spouses are the ones creating a stable foundation for them. For Ramirez, that foundation has been his wife, Palmira.
“As wonderful as he is, he could not be who he is, and could not do what he has done, without her,” Avina pointed out. “She deserves as much recognition as he does.”
“It was very deserving of him to receive this award—for all the things that he does,” Palmira said of her husband.
Ramirez is adamant that serving others is something he needs to continue to do.
“If God gives you a talent to do something, then you should put it to use to help other people,” he said. “That’s what I consider my reward: God has given me the talent to help other people.”
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