Two vets log 15,000 hours driving other vets to appointments

At 85 and 70 years old, Mel Ortega and Bernardo Jaramill might be content to stay home and relax. Not these two retired army vets. They volunteer their time with Disabled American Veterans, driving disabled vets to appointments near their home in northern New Mexico. Both men remember the camaraderie and mutual support they received from their fellow soldiers, and they see this as a way to continue to serve.  

Since starting to drive for DAV in 2002, Ortega has logged over 10,000 hours - an amazing 200,000 miles. Jaramillo joined the effort a year later, driving over 5,000 hours and bringing the pair's total volunteer driving miles to 300,000.   
“When I was wounded in Vietnam, my brothers in arms, they never left me or the other guys behind,” Jaramillo said. “I don’t intend to let ’em down. I don’t care from what war, we gotta serve them, because they served us.”