President approves naming of VA clinic after local war hero

Dec. 23—STOCKTON — President Joe Biden has approved naming a new VA clinic in San Joaquin County after a Stockton war hero nearly a year after his nomination.

This week, the president signed into law Congressman Jerry McNerney's, D-Stockton, legislation to designate the new Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in French Camp, as the "Richard A. Pittman VA Clinic."

The facility, currently under construction, will honor U.S. Marine Master Sergeant Richard A. Pittman, who served during the Vietnam War and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.

"Bringing a VA clinic to our community has been one of the greatest privileges of my life, and now to know that it will open under the name of one of our hometown heroes is a highlight of my Congressional career," McNerney said in a media statement Thursday.

"Master Sergeant Pittman was a Medal of Honor recipient and a true embodiment of bravery and sacrifice," he added. "It has been my honor to help ensure that his name and legacy will forever be memorialized by this facility."

Born in French Camp, Pittman enlisted in the Marines in 1965.On July 24, 1966, his unit was moving along a trail near the Demilitarized Zone in the Republic of Vietnam when the Marines ahead of them came under attack.

Upon hearing this, Pittman took a machine gun and several belts of ammunition and rushed to aid his comrades. As he moved towards the attacked Marines, Pittman came under heavy fire from two automatic weapons, which he was able to destroy.

When he learned there were additional wounded Marines further along the trail, he endured enemy mortar and gun fire to get to them.

As he reached his fellow service members, he faced an attack from as many as 40 enemy fighters, and used a combination of machine-gun fire, an enemy submachine gun, a pistol from a fallen comrade, and a grenade to cause the enemy forces to withdraw.

Pittman's actions were recreated on the silver screen in the 1993 Tom Hanks film "Forrest Gump." He passed away in 2016 at the age of 71.

In 2021, McNerney appointed a committee of five veterans to collect and review submitted names, and provide a recommendation for the naming of the facility.

The committee included Gail Belmont, Army Veteran from Valley Springs; Cary Martin, Stockton Air Force Veteran; Ron Green, Retired San Joaquin County Veterans Service Officer and Navy Veteran; Lanny Bauer, Marine Corps Veteran of Stockton; and Sam Pachuca, Stockton Veterans of Foreign Wars Luneta Post 52.

"As we debated the naming of this important new addition to our community, recognizing his heroic efforts was top of mind and reinforced by an outpouring of community support," the committee said last February.

Naming a federal facility requires an act of Congress, which has certain stipulations.

If the facility is named after a person, they must be deceased and must have been a veteran who was instrumental in the construction or operation of the facility, awarded the Medal of Honor, or performed military service of an exemplary character.

The deceased individual may also have been a member of Congress who was directly involved with the construction of the facility or a VA Administrator or Secretary, the Secretary of a service branch, or civilian or military official of comparable or higher position, or someone who has performed outstanding service for veterans.