Veteran Helping Other Veterans
Monache grad served in U.S. Navy
You could say Kathleen Thomson found her own identity during the 12 years she served in the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve.
Today, she is helping other veterans as a Case Management nurse at the Veterans Administration Central California Healthcare System South Valley Outpatient Clinic in Tulare.
Thomson severed three separate times in the Navy, beginning with a five-year tour in 1982. After a year out of the service and finding no luck landing a good job, she re-enlisted in 1988 and served two more years.
After a short marriage and again finding it difficult to land a good job, she joined the Navy Reserve and was in the Reserve when terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
“When I was in the Reserves, 911 happened. I got called back to active duty. Within three hours of the Pentagon getting hit, I got a call and was back on duty within 30 days,” she recalled.
Wanted To Join Military
From an early age, Thomson wanted to join the military.
“It was something I always wanted to do. I wanted to join the Navy since sixth or seventh grade,” she recalled.
Her father served in the Navy and one of her brothers served in the Army. She said she really had no preference as for which branch of service, but liked the Navy uniform over the Army uniform.
“I guess following in my dad’s footsteps triggered it,” she said of her final choice of the Navy.
She said the Navy was the best thing for her.
“I was a juvenile delinquent in high school. I don’t know where I’d be had it not been for the military,” she said.
The youngest of five children, she said she was always someone’s younger sister. The Navy changed that.
“I got to have my own identity of sorts,” she said positively.
Her Navy career was delayed a couple of years because when she graduated from Monache High School in 1980, she still had braces and had to wait for two years until they were off before she could join.
In 1982, women were not allowed in combat areas or on combat ships. She became an aviation storekeeper, basically working in the parts supply for squadrons. The only combat ship she was on, for just a few brief training exercises, was the aircraft carrier USS Lexington.
She served in Japan for three years and then did another 18 months in San Diego before leaving the Navy.
She said transitioning from the military to civilian life is not easy, especially for those who go directly from home into the military.
“In the military, everything was provided for me. All those grown-up responsibilities are not being learned, so the transition is hard,” she said. Thomson added that experience has helped her work with veterans at the VA clinic who are now experiencing the same transition challenges.
“After not finding a job — I needed work — so I went back in. I knew I could do the job in the Navy,” she recalled. Also, she was comfortable in the Navy.
“It’s like I understood the military. It’s a little easier for me to understand these (military) people.”
In her second stint with the Navy, she held the same job and served in Hawai’i with the admiral’s squadron.
After two years, she married a Marine, left the Navy and moved to Georgia. She then got divorced, came back home and joined the Reserves.
Called back to active duty following 911, she was sent to Winbley Island Naval Air Station in the state of Washington and first served with the military police and then as a dispatcher on the base.
In 2004, she left the military, but it was the military which paid for her to attend nursing school and led to her career she enjoys today.
She served seven years active duty and was in the Reserves for five years.
With her nursing degree, she has worked at Kaweah Delta Medical Center, Tulare District Hospital, the VA hospital in Fresno and now the VA clinic in Tulare. She has been there two years and hopes to retire from that position.
Thomson has nothing but good memories of the military.
“It’s where some of my best friends were made. I traveled the world. It was a huge and valuable part of my life,” she said with conviction.