Marines Help to Cheer Camarillo Patients

In 1964, when Marine Corps Sgt. John Miranda would grow weary from battle, he and some of his friends would visit Vietnamese children in orphanages in the city of Da Nang, near where his unit was based.

It was there that Miranda would regain his sense of hope that one day the war would end and peace would prevail.

“We would go there and give them some candy or just hold them,” Miranda said. “We always left feeling better. Being with those kids meant as much for us as it did them.”

Now, 30 years later, with his Vietnam experiences still vivid in his mind, Miranda said he seeks satisfaction and peace of mind through working with troubled children who are patients at Camarillo State Hospital and Development Center.

Since 1992, members of Miranda’s group, Marines & Friends, have regularly visited the 72 young patients known as the Camarillo Kids. The youngsters, ages 8 to 15, are full-time residents at the state-run psychiatric facility.

Besides twice-a-month visits, the group helps organize sporting events, trips, barbecues and other events for the young charges.

Recently, hospital officials, impressed by the work accomplished by Miranda’s group, asked him to head up a new program addressing the gift needs of not just the children’s unit, but all 900 of the patients at the facility.

“We first started working with the Camarillo Kids, but this year the hospital’s management asked us to provide a little help to the rest of their patients,” said Miranda, a longtime Moorpark resident. “It was pretty daunting, but I think we’re up to the challenge.”

Under the moniker “Operation Cuddles,” Miranda said that Marines & Friends, along with other community groups, have committed themselves to see that every patient at the facility gets a small gift to open Christmas Day.

The hospital, whose patients range in age from 8 to 90 years, offers nine divisions of service, including psychiatric rehabilitation programs for children, teen-agers and adults. Other programs address behavioral therapy, sensory development and medical problems.

“We obviously need the public’s help,” said Miranda, 48, whose nickname is “Sgt. John.” “We are looking for cash donations, personal toiletry items and toys for the kids. We will gladly take help from anyone who wants to offer it.”

Jerry Scheurn, the hospital’s volunteer services coordinator, said state budget cuts have left the sprawling facility, located on Camarillo’s western outskirts, with just the ability to provide for its patients’ basic needs.

Scheurn added that the downturn in the state’s economy also has sharply restricted donations from individuals, local corporations and businesses.

“It used to be that our budget would allow us to buy small Christmas gifts for our patients,” Scheurn said. “But that day is long gone and we rely heavily on groups like (Miranda’s) to fill the breach.”

Because of shrinking budgets, Scheurn said, the hospital has had to prioritize and provides just the basic necessities for its patients--food, shelter, therapy and medicines.

“If we could mobilize the support of the community through organizations like (Marines & Friends)we could arrange to provide a little something special not just on Christmas but on birthdays and other holidays during the year,” Scheurn said.

“You don’t know how much a little gift--even if it’s just a bottle of nice shampoo--will do to brighten up their lives,” he added.

Curtiss Thompson, a veteran staff member of the children’s unit at Camarillo State, said he has seen Miranda’s group help draw out troubled young people. Most of the children in the unit suffer from “conduct disorder”--an umbrella diagnosis that is brought about by one or more kinds of behavioral or psychiatric problems.

“We often can use John’s visit as an incentive for good behavior,” Thompson said. “They have come to trust him, and they look forward to his visits.”

For Miranda, who signs off all personal correspondence with the U.S. Marine Corps motto “Semper Fi” (a shortened version of the Latin phrase “Always Faithful”), helping the hospital patients has become a labor of love.

“Being there for others in need is what it’s all about,” Miranda said. “I think it gives our lives meaning.”