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Veteran Of The Year
Kathleen Splinter selected as the 2009 Southeastern Mass. Veteran of the Year
Kathleen Splinter joined the Army in 1966 while a junior nursing student at St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing in New Bedford, MA. She joined the service to earn tuition money for her last year of schooling.
After graduating in June of 1967 and passing her certification exam, she was commissioned in the Army as a Second Lieutenant. She completed her basic training at Fort Sam Houston, TX and subsequently stationed at Fort Bragg, NC before being deployed to Vietnam, arriving there in October, 1968. She was stationed in the medical unit of the 312th Evacuation Hospital at Chu Lai, serving in the intensive care unit, recovery room and the Vietnamese Ward.
During her service in Vietnam, she was promoted to First Lieutenant. Upon returning home, she was awarded the Bronze Star in 1969 for her extraordinary efforts on behalf of her patients.
Ms. Splinter is the president and driving force of Welcome Home Veterans Housing, Inc., an initiative to convert an old carriage house turned sweater mill on North St. in New Bedford into a 19-unit apartment complex offering permanent housing for veterans with physical or psychological disabilities. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Sean Brooke House were held on July 29, 2009 and construction is expected to be completed by April, 2010.
Kathy has been recognized for her service during the Vietnam War and her years of advocating for all veterans. In November of 2008, she was honored as one of two Outstanding Women Veterans of the Year by the Mass. Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Since 1996, the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Massachusetts Veterans Housing Program, Inc. (The Veterans Transition House) has recognized and honored a veteran from our region who has demonstrated excellence in promoting the causes of veterans of all of the Armed Forces of the United States as well as excellence in community service, volunteerism, and veterans’ issues.Past recipients of the award are:
- 2008 Nelson N. Ostiguy
- 2007 James R. Leal
- 2006 Walter D. Campbell
- 2005 Norman J. “Red” Perry
- 2004 John W. Remedis
- 2003 Joseph Theodore
- 2002 All Veterans
- 2001 Howard Prescott
- 2000 David McLaughlin
- 1999 Donat “Dan” Le Blanc
- 1998 John Kelleher
- 1997 Roland Gendron
- 1996 O. M. “Don” Canto
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Contact Information
Veteran's Transition House
20 Willis St.
New Bedford, MA 02740
Telephone: 508-992-5313
Fax: 508-999-3909
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