Senate Resolution No. 2382

BY: Senator HINCHEY

COMMENDING Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara upon the
occasion of her designation as recipient of a
Liberty Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon an
individual by the New York State Senate

WHEREAS, Members of the Armed Services from the State of New York,
who have served so valiantly and honorably in wars in which this
country's freedom was at stake, as well as in the preservation of peace
in peacetime, deserve a special salute from this Legislative Body; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to commend Lt.
Colonel Barbara Caldara upon the occasion of her designation as
recipient of a Liberty Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon an
individual by the new York State Senate; and

WHEREAS, The New York State Senate Liberty Medal was established by
Resolution and is awarded to individuals who have merited special
commendation for exceptional, heroic, or humanitarian acts on behalf of
their fellow New Yorkers; and

WHEREAS, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara is being honored by the Greene
County Honor a Veteran Committee during their Honor a Veteran Ceremony;
and

WHEREAS, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara was born on October 25, 1946,
in Catskill, New York, to Caroline and Percy Brandow; and

WHEREAS, Proudly raised in Leeds, New York, Lt. Colonel Barbara
Caldara graduated from Catskill High School and furthered her education
at Ellis Hospital School for Nursing in Schenectady, New York; and

WHEREAS, As she prepared to enter her last year of nursing school,
Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara made the decision to enlist in the military;
the United States Army paid for Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara to complete
her third year of nursing school in exchange for two years of military
service; and

WHEREAS, After enlisting in 1966, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara was in
the United States Army Student Nurse Inactive Ready Reserves as a
private; upon completing nursing school, she got her first job as a
charge nurse at the Ellis Hospital Emergency Room; and

WHEREAS, In February of 1968, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara was
commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in New Orleans, Louisiana; on April 1,
1968, she began her first day of duty in the OB/GYN maternity nursing
unit at Weed Army Hospital in Fort Irvin, California; and

WHEREAS, Shortly after beginning her service at Weed Army Hospital,
Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara married Bill Caldara on June 22, 1968; Bill
Caldara also served in the military, and spent time on a naval ship in
Vietnam for four years; and

WHEREAS, On October 7, 1968, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara was
deployed to Vietnam and stationed at 312 Evac Hospital in Chu Lai/l
Corps 91st Evac on the coast of the South China Sea where she was
assigned to work as a nurse in the emergency room and later in the
surgical ICU; and

WHEREAS, One year later, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara returned home
to work at Fort McArthur Army Hospital in San Pedro, California, and
later transferred to a Reserve Unit (349th General Hospital) in Los
Angeles, California, in September of 1972; and

WHEREAS, In 1980, after spending seven years on Inactive Ready
Reserves while she raised her daughter, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara
rejoined the United States Army Reserves as an active service member and
served in various roles at the 364th General Hospital in Albany, New
York; and

WHEREAS, Throughout her military career, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara
traveled to many army facilities across the country to complete
trainings and served on missions in Guatemala and Panama; in January of
2000, she proudly retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel; and

WHEREAS, For her courageous service, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara was
awarded the Bronze Star Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam
Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Army Commendation
Medal, Vietnam Counter Offensive Phase V & VI Campaign, TET 69 Counter
Offensive Campaign, and Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 Campaign; and

WHEREAS, Outside of her military service, Lt. Colonel Barbara
Caldara worked for Greene County Public Health Family Planning for over
20 years as a nurse practitioner and program director; she celebrated
her retirement in 2009; and

WHEREAS, Military service is a strong tradition in Lt. Colonel
Barbara Caldara's family, with her father serving in World War II and
her daughter, Gabrielle Caldara, serving in the United States Army for
25 years; and

WHEREAS, A true active member of her community, Lt. Colonel Barbara
Caldara is a member of the PH Medical Reserve Corps, several knitting
groups, a poetry club, and volunteers with hospice; and

WHEREAS, Residents of this great State must never forget the courage
with which our Nation's veterans served their country; having exhibited
her patriotism both at home and abroad, Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara
demonstrated her love for her country and merits forevermore the highest
respect of this State and Nation; and

WHEREAS, Our Nation's veterans deserve to be recognized, commended,
and thanked by the people of the State of New York for their service and
for their dedication to their communities, their State, and their
Nation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara upon the occasion of her designation
as recipient of a Liberty Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon an
individual by the New York State Senate; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to Lt. Colonel Barbara Caldara.