RENOVATED VFW POST TO OPEN SOON IN NEW CAMPO LOCATION

By Leorah Gavidor

Photos by Irvin Gavidor

Veterans have a friend in Campo: his name is Kevin Martin, and he’s a Vietnam-era Marine veteran himself.

Thanks to Martin and a group of volunteers, along with a grant from San Diego County, vets in Campo will soon have a new place to hang out. VFW Post 2080 is moving from its old dilapidated building to freshly renovated quarters down the block on Sheridan Road, at the edge of Camp Lockett. Martin was recently elected commander of the post.

“These veterans, they fight for us, our families, our rights, and then they get home and get treated like crap. I’m not letting that happen on my watch,” Martin said. 

Martin does whatever it takes to help fellow vets: rides to doctor appointments and the DMV; assistance with housing, benefits applications, financial education, mental health counseling, signing up for free cell phones, setting up mail delivery. He’s especially keen on finding and assisting homeless vets—he was once homeless himself, after returning from deployment. 

“When guys get back and they have nowhere to go, they go to the bushes. And that’s where I go to find them. You don’t sit back at a desk and wait for them to come to you.”

The nearest full-service veterans service office is 50 miles away in El Cajon, and most people who Martin serves are not able to travel there. When he moved to Campo three years ago, after retiring from his career at the Palo Alto VA Hospital, he saw a need and started filling it. He estimates he has helped about 150 people since he arrived.

“East County doesn’t get services like they do in town,” said Carol Snyder, a Campo real estate agent who volunteers with Martin at Camp Lockett Equestrian and Event Facility. “There’s a huge need out here,” she continued. “Kevin is able to give people hope, he helps them out of his own pocket.” 

The first person Martin helped when he came to town was a former submariner living in a non-functioning box truck in a hot, dusty, isolated field. He was addicted to alcohol and disconnected from any type of services. 

“The first thing I’m trained to do is a quick ‘street assessment’ to determine what the most immediate needs are,” Martin explained. “Then I can start to walk the person through the whole process.”

Snyder said Martin was able to assist the submariner with applying for VA service-connected disability benefits, and now he receives $3800 each month. 

Martin finds quietude in Campo, with soothing breezes rustling the oaks and wide open mountain views. He’s glad other vets have found their way out there, and he hopes the new VFW will be a welcome getaway from city life, which can be overwhelming for some veterans. “It’s just an hour from San Diego, it’s remote, but not too far.” 

Campo has a military history dating back to the late 1800s, when cavalry and infantry regiments were garrisoned there to provide protection for the border and the stagecoach line. It was the last US camp for mounted cavalry units: indeed, Buffalo Soldiers were trained and stationed at what became Camp Lockett. Most of the remaining structures were built during World War II, when Italian and German POWs were housed there. Now Camp Lockett is a San Diego County designated historical landmark; the new VFW post is in the old ferrier’s quarters. 

As commander of Post 2080, Martin plans to host classes in financial literacy, mental health, how to purchase property, and more. He hopes to train a crew so he can expand his mission. Lt. John W. Finn VFW Post 2080’s grand reopening date will be posted on Facebook soon.