January veteran of the month

James (Gunny) Utterback has been recognized as Nevada’s January 2015 Veteran of the Month by the Nevada Department of Veteran Services.

“Gunny is the go to guy in Hawthorne,” said Kat Miller, director of the NVDS. “He’s an example of a veteran who takes care of other veterans and their families as well as volunteering for community efforts and for Gov. Brian Sandoval, myself and his community, we are honored and appreciate the work he does in his community.”

“Gunny” served 21 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and moved to Hawthorne to where he served as the director of Senior Services for Mineral County. Upon his retirement, Gunny became active in assisting veterans and community volunteerism.

He is actively involved in as a member local organizations and community boards which included the VFW, American Legion, Elks, E-Campus Vitus and sits on the Mineral County Economic Development Authority.

In addition to these organizations, he works with F-Troop, an organization that assists seniors with minor home repairs and builds ADA compliant ramps at no cost to the family.

Anyone can nominate a veteran. If readers know a veteran in their community that continues to volunteer to help others we encourage them to be nominate them. It may be for helping community efforts, serving as a big brother or sister, or in the course of helping other veterans, the NVDS wants to recognize them for their efforts.