4:30 this afternoon. most of the crowd is now inside. this has gripped yountville. this town has taken it very seriously. 1200 people in this theater, in a community of roughly 3,000 people. there is an overflow crowd, people watching in the community center as well. let me show you another shot of where this celebration of life will take place. it's supposed to start at 6:00. dr. jennifer was seven months pregnant. we understand the ceremony is starting now. let's go there live. >> the memorial service is getting under way. family, friends, loved ones and community members gathered inside the lincoln theater. >> let's listen and watch. >> while protecting our freedom. and we celebrate these three brave women as our loved ones, our friends, our colleagues, our role models. each touched the lives of others

in their own personal way, but they also shared joyful spirit, kindness and the special ability to connect with people. those characteristics served them so well in the mission they shared to help our veterans, because it took more than clinical expertise, intelligence, and experience in mental health treatment. it took their humanness, listening, understanding, authenticity, and their compassion. it also took complete focus on their unwavering commitment to helping others. it's impossible to count how many lives they made better and how many lives they helped save. that will be part of their legacies. tonight we stand as a community

to honor these three brave women. we also stand with the families and offer our love and now for the presentation of colors, the california highway patrol color guard.

now please welcome kelly fuller for our national anthem. ♪ oh, say can you see ♪ by the dawn's early light ♪ what so proudly we hailed ♪ at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ through the perilous fight ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched ♪ were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rockets

♪ the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the no ♪ and the home of the brave

please be seated.

i would like to thank kelly fuller and the california highway patrol color guard. now please welcome chaplain ira book for the reading of the invocation. >> deesh god, i used to call the veterans home of california, yountville, california's best-kept secret. in good conscience, i can no longer do that. we call the veteran's home a home deliberately. it becomes the new home for many of our residents whom we fondly call members, as members of our

family. and we mourn for christine, for jennifer and jennifer. they were leaders of our they were unafraid. they were proud to serve those who served. all of us are servants. and we are reminded of profit micah. it has been told to you what is required. act justly, but love mercy. and always walk humbly with the lord your god. our home is a of protection, refuge. we have been such a sanctuary for over 130 years. and, in the blink of an eye, everything of our comfort can

change. our home has been violated. but we shall recover. we have survived earthquakes, wildfires, the deaths of three wonderful staff members who were truly heroes. we ask, oh, lord, for their families to find new strength, consolation and support. may god who is everywhere comfort your families. we shall not despair. we shall honor their legacy to continue helping all of our veterans who struggle to restore life. some of you may remember oscar shindler when he was evacuated

by the inmates of the camp. they presented him with a homemade medal, and he cried, and said i could have done more. among elizabeth cubeler ross's statements of grief is a stage known as negotiation. what if i had been there? what if i had seen and reacted sooner? these are questions of love. evil is the word "live" spelled backwards. it is a corruption of the gift of life. in scripture, we are told, in chapter 30 of deuteronomy, i place before you life and good, death and evil, choose life. that you and your family may live well upon this earth. in genesis, we are told, be

fruitful and multiply. replenish the earth. human beings are told one more. subdue it. make it a better place. we have so much to subdue. we have to subdue the evil within us, the battle between the animal and the godly within every human being. in but a few days we mark the beginning of passover and easter. celebrating freedom and new life. and we finish the book of the final we are required to celebrate. and we say, be strong, be stronger and give strength to each other. and as long as we remember our loved ones, jennifer, christine and jennifer they will continue to inspire and influence us.

may their families keep their good names treasured and their qualities passed on through the generations. may the lord bless you and keep you. may his light sheine upon you ad be gracious to you. may he carry you each and every day and lift you up to a place of wholeness and peace and together let us say amen. >> amen. >> thank you, chaplain book. we have a number of dignitaries and elected officials here this evening. we thank you for joining us in honoring these three brave women. now, it is my privilege to introduce congressman mike thompson.

>> thank you, mayor dunbar. dorothy, pathway board, pathway team, the veterans community and our napa valley community. we come together in the best of times, and we come together in the worst of times. and never has that been so important as it is right now. to the families of the three heroines we honor today, i'm so sorry for your terrible loss. and i speak for everyone here today and for those who couldn't be here. we are with you. and we always will be. our hearts are broken. broken for christine. our hearts are broken for jennifer. and our hearts are broken for jen. and our hearts are broken for their families.

words seem so inadequate, and they are. but please know, they're sincere. as long as i can remember, driving past as a little boy with my parents, during my time in the state senate, with oversight responsibilities, and now, i've known the veteran's home as a beautiful place where veterans can get help. that's been the case since the civil war. staff over the years have helped hundreds of thousands of our veterans. we've always known this campus as a place that's here for veterans when they have no other place. since 2008, pathway home has been here for veterans too. they've helped nearly 500 veterans. with the same goals as the veterans home, pathway was founded to give post-911

veterans the help that they need. pathway's success was in large part due to their incredible staff. staff dedicated to serving our veterans. to getting them the help that they need. this evening we're here to celebrate three wonderful women who were emblematic of that commitment to help veterans. all three, tremendous individuals, and incredibly successful. their lives and their contributions are exactly what emerson spoke to regarding success. to leave the world a bit better, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. today we celebrate these three wonderful women who why

administrative. nothing would get in their way of working to help others. social work was christine's calling. local veterans described her as both dedicated to her cause and warm and friendly to all she met. friends say they never saw her without a big smile on her face, and teachers described her as passionate for her work to help others. jennifer gonzalez' friends describe her as brilliant. particularly for her young age and deep caring for all around her. not only was she immersed in her service to veterans as a psychologist, she served her family, caring for her grandmother. and, as we know sadly, she and t.j. were expecting their first child this year.

i've known jennifer golick for years. her mother and my wife worked together for over 20 year. our families are close, and i was able to watch her grow into a remarkable young woman. her mantra of service and dedication was inspiring. i saw her become the beautiful, caring young woman so many in our community came to love. jennifer, her husband mark and their daughter mckenna were a picture-perfect young family. these three wonderful women made contributions that most certainly left the world a bit better. and helped many people breathe easier. they truly were heroines. christine, jennifer and jen all shared a common goal. they got up every morning to improve the lives of others. to improve the lives of our veterans. we should all aspire to that

service and live our lives by their example. we must work, and we must pray for peace. to make sure we create fewer veterans, as john kennedy said, mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind. and, until that time comes, we must provide the adequate funding and the resources for the veterans that we have. and finally, we must continue our resolve to present, prevent gun violence. we have flags here today that were flown over the state capital. and you want you to know that your state legislatures adjourned both the senate and house in honor of these three women. thank you for honoring christine, jennifer and jen.

>> thank you, congressman thompson. next, i would like to introduce secretary dr. veto for the california veterans affairs. >> friends, the three accomplished women whose memory and life's work we are honoring tonight did not wear the uniform of the united states army. they didn't wear the uniform of the navy. they didn't wear the uniform of the air force, marines or coast guard. but make no mistake, they served with us. they shared our campus. they shared our mission. they dedicated their lives to

serving veterans, our brothers and sisters in arms. they were part of our cal vet family. look around. they have friends here. we're here today on this beautiful campus where our yountville veterans home has stood for more than 130 years. we've always considered this idyllic setting a peaceful haven for the nearly 900 veterans who call it home. this is their home. and this tragic event happened at their home. at our home. and it has shaken everyone's sense of serenity. but this violence does not represent our home. it does not represent the pathway home. it doesn't represent the veterans who live here, the people who work here or the yountville community. christine loeber, dr. jennifer

golick and dr. jennifer gonzalez now join the ranks of our heroes. not because of how their lives ended, but because of how their lives were lived. bravely, passionately, with a whole-hearted dedication to serving others. and to serving a cause greater than themselves. so while we grieve with their family in mourning this terrible loss, we also salute these brave women for how they lived and how they served. we pray that their sacrifice will advance their purpose. in the words of a great french statesman, it is not tolerable. it is not possible that from so much death, so much sacrifice and ruin, so much heroism a greater and better humanity shall not emerge. thank you.

>> thank you, doctor. next, i would like to introduce dorothy salmon, chair of the pathway home board of directors. >> thir >> first off, thank you all for being here. if ever there was a testament to who we are in this valley, it's all of you. you are the magic that kept the pathway home going, the rotarians in the row. the mentis who stepped up to the plate. the san francisco va that's amazing, the california department of veterans affairs, ursula here at the beautiful yountville veterans home. folks from the martinez va.

all of the donors, all of the volunteers, all of you, this is the magic. and the pathway homes real mission was to say this, take being care of our veterans as they return home isn't just the va's job. quite the opposite. it's our ability, our responsibility, and it's also a great gift to step up and say how can we help? i've been part of the pathway home for ten years. i'm in the napa rotary club with all those good-looking guys back there. and this has been our mission for ten years to keep this program going. and we will. this program will go on. it will go on because we have amazing partners, and because you're all here, and you care this much. and we all loved christine and jennifer and jen. they, this is, this is their

gift. and it's their legacy that we keep this going, that we say the napa valley is the model for how everyone steps up to the plate, for how we teach others to do this. how we become the symbol for real, joyful, welcoming back and not just saying, thank you for your service. but walking the talk and really providing the kind of care that we know we can give people in the napa valley. so we've had great success. one of our favorite success stories is zach skiles. so i want you to welcome zach skiles, a pathway home graduate. and he's going to have some of the other graduates in the audience stand up, because they are here too, but they wouldn't be here without all of you. so please stay with us.

please don't give up. and please honor christine and jen and jennifer. thank you. >> i'm going to slow this down a little bit, because i'm doing my best not to cry right now. this is a -- my name's zach skiles, i'm a marine corps veteran who invaded iraq 15 years ago today. a graduate of the pathway home originally designed by fred gusman, and now a doctoral student at martinez va. today i am representing hundreds

of veterans who have been touched by pathway home and the work that jen, christine, jennifer all dedicated their lives to. i'm here to give thanks and grieve the loss of these three brave women who gave everything in the service of veterans. now i've seen a few of you lehe today, picked you out of the crowd. but i apologize for this, it means a lot, if you are a pathway home graduate, please stand up and be recognized. [ applause ]

thank you. so one of my experiences as a veteran is noting that we receive the finest lip service in the country. bar none. the finest in the country. that's progress. politicians, pundits and ordinary people lather us up in lip service. it's confusing for a lot of folks at times. to then learn that we're still an underserviced population with challenges that go unmet. it's a point of contention then to have these personal experiences politicized. used. as i have no doubt that those of

us connected to jen and christine and jennifer in the pathway home are experiencing right now. i say this, because it outlines the importance of what these three brave women gave to the pathway home. what other veterans and i myself has received at the pathway home, an authentic connection. genuine experiences based on our relationships with them and a love and dedication it takes to lead us through hardship. every day these women gave so much more than lip a week before this tragedy occurred, jen and christine gave my colleagues a tour of the pathway home. they walked us through the rooms

shared by veterans and unknowingly ushered us right into my old room. some clinicians can get caught up in personal and professional boundaries. i like to test them out, that tells you something about me. [ laughter ] so i tested them out. i shared that this was in fact my old room, that i slept right there. i cut my beard in the sink over there. i stared into the mirror every single day, that one right there. it was a bit of a test to see how they'd react. and these ladies didn't flinch. they wanted more. they embraced it. let's get familiar. let's be a family. christine actually yelled it at one point, she had that great

beaming smile, and said no, more! give me more! they were the leaders of this new family. that held this same authenticity that myself and hundreds of other veterans had come to trust at the pathway home. and while my gratitude may fall short, i would like to thank the family and friends who supported them. i would like to thank the san francisco va and martinez va for stepping up when they were called upon by the pathway home. your guys' service does not go unnoticed, and it exemplifies the love these three brave women stood for. thank you for everything that you've given.

thank you, jen and christine and jennifer for giving everything in the service of veterans. [ applause ] >> dorothy and zach, thank you so much for your remarks. you can tell how heart-felt they are. next, please join me in welcoming the band of the golden west from travis air force base.

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♪ [ applause ] >> thank you for that beautiful performance. next, i would like to introduce dr. carolyn clancy, executive in

charge of the veterans health administration. >> good evening, everyone, it's an honor to be here, as we gather to remember and pay tribute to the lives and service of three remarkable women. on behalf of the department of veterans affairs, i offer my deepest condolences to the families, to the friends and colleagues of jennifer gonzalez, christine loeber and jennifer golick. we stand with the napa valley community and all those grieving the devastating loss of these beloved women. we know your hearts are broken and your sorrow is immeasurable. the loss of these women, all respected members of our extended va family reminds us that supporting veterans is a shared responsibility. through their service and

sacrifice, veterans help secure the freedoms we all enjoy today. and in return, it's our responsibility as a nation to help them transition back into their communities after they hang up their uniforms for the last time. jennifer gonzalez will be remembered by her colleagues at the san francisco va health care system for her profound compassion and respect she had for veterans struggling with post traumatic stress disorder. she was smart and funny and had a positive outlook that brightened the lives of everyone around her. christine loeber, who worked at the santa rosa va clinic before moving on to lead the pathway home will be remembered by letter colleagues for her boundless optimism and energy for veterans. she had a unique ability to connect with veterans in crisis and refused to give up on them, even when they wanted to give up on themselves. both women also worked at the va palo alto health care system earlier in their careers and are

remembered fondly by their colleagues, many of whom are here this evening. christine also worked in the boston and brockton vas from the great state of massachusetts. i understand there are contingents in new england mourning her loss today. jennifer golick was the newest member of our extended va family, known as a brilliant clinician with a passion for helping others. our hearts are heavy now, but we know that these three amazing women would want those who serve veterans to carry on this important work with honor and pride as they did. i want to offer a heartfelt thank you to all the clinicians and mental health care providers with us this evening. your life's work and dedication to helping veterans struggling with ptsd and other disorders is noble and important work and we thank you. that is how we can best honor the memory and life's work of jennifer, christine and jen. it has been said that only a

life lived in service for others is worth living, and all three of the women we honor this evening fully embraced that sentiment. they leave us a laegsy of service that will allow them to live on in the hearts and minds of those they touched in their lives. we hope that brings a measure of comfort and peace to their loved ones. these women were dedicated to helping veterans regain their lives, and we'll never forget them. their passion and commitment will continue to inspire us even as this tragedy leaves a terrible hole in our hearts. thank you. >> next, i would like to introduce keith armstrong, director of vital and student health program with the san francisco veterans affairs health care system.

>> good evening. i'm keith armstrong, and i direct the student veteran health program for the san francisco department of veterans affairs health care system. i want to say some words about all three of these brave women. their collective work, why it's important to me and why it's important to all of us. jennifer golick or "jiffy" wa o new to working with veterans. she began working at the pathway home in september of last year, highly regarded for her time working with add less the and family services in petaluma. she was smart and a welcome addition to the program.

a sophisticated professional with a big heart and fresh perspectives. empathy guided her interactions an connection to others. her speaking eloquence and communication skills were surpassed only by her listening abilities. she was a gifted healer. something that may seem like a trivial detail about jennifer is important to me that i want to mention. people in our community, people with a gift and a passion for working with veterans are often sports nerds. and sometimes baseball nerds. it's a game where every year individual contributions slowly build into a larger story, communal and complicated and universal. now in the bay area, those people are inevitably hunter pence fans. he is our most prominent local spokesman for the deeper meaning

of baseball. jiffy loved hunter pence. she wore his jersey to games. there is a story well worth noting when it comes to telling about jiffy. some years ago, the giants were about to be eliminated from the playoffs. a post season they would eventually win. their fortunes reversed after a dugout motivational talk from pence. he asked members of the team to get in the huddle. he asked them to look directly into each other's eyes. he asked them to think about how much they cared about each other. to draw motivation from that love for each other, to focus not on their predicament but on their bonds, to play not for themselves but for each other. to play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back. jiffy did that every day of her professional career, with

veterans, with co-workers, she was about to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary with her husband mark. she leaves behind her 8-year-old daughter mckenna. she was empathic and passionate, an expert in her field, fueled by humenity and understanding. she was the future of the work. she is irreplaceable. christine loeber was not new to working with veterans. she left a career in sports and marketing and community relations because she felt called to work with people who needed help. she left the world of her beloved red sox to join the ranks of those who help and heal. she earned her social work degree in boston and focussed on women, health and veteran's health. she was kind and empathic and passionate. and she was equally accurate and

efficient and effective. she brought a keen eye for detail that propelled her career. it benefitted her patients and her co-workers. like me, christine was an east coaster, transplanted to the west coast. and i want to reveal a bias right now. when a new englander says they're going to get it done they will get it done. with christine, it was 100%. she was east coast that way. when she looked you in the eyes and said i got this, you knew you didn't have to worry. a little extra glance and a nod, she was calibrated to a slightly higher standard. i loved that about her. and she sought challenges. she did not start a career at pathway home because it looked easy, nor did she teach yoga chass for vets because it was

easy. providing cutting edge holistic care for them. she used her time and work on things that were not vacuous or flimsy. she wanted to make real connections to real people with real vulnerabilities. she made good things happen. she was a facilitator. she leaves behind her loving family. like jennifer, christine loeber was empathic and passionate. an expert in her field, fueled by humanity and understanding. individual effort, pushing toward a larger goal. she was the future of the work. she is irreplaceable. jennifer gonzalez was well-known throughout california as a dynamo. an up and comer with boundless energy and cutting edge skills. she left her mark personally and professionally up and down their state. los angeles, palo alto, mountain

view, santa rosa, san francisco, napa. a local gem who made a national impact in the field of care for veterans. we were blessed that she jointed the student veteran health program at the san francisco va, absolutely. she was the consummate team player, devoted to directly helping veterans, clinical poise, skills and depth. so warm and genuine. bright in the truest sense of the word. smart. but also radiant, effervescent and enthusiastic. she always wanted to do more. more places to go. more people to meet. pulsing with energy. on our team, we loved jen, of course. but we'd always laugh a little because she had beautifully color coded and organized to-do lists. but the thing is, she had about 2 million of these lists. seriously. it was a remarkable balance that

harnessed her own swirling spirit, and it worked beautifully. the energy was balanced with precision. the passion for veterans was balanced with an understanding of policies. the love of people was balanced with professional craft. she was a dream co-worker. she and t.j. were about to celebrate their first anniversary. their child was to be born in a couple of months. like jiffy golick and christine loeber, jennifer gonzalez was kind and empathic and passionate, an expert in her field, fueled by humanity and understanding, individual effort pushing toward a larger goal. she was the future of the work. she is irreplaceable. yes, they were passionate. yes, they were experts. yes, they were bonded to the people they served. yes, they were the future of the

work. there was a wind behind each woman, behind expertise and even commitment to veterans. they were teammates, people with life and spirit who combined their brightest angels not to enrich themselves but to make the world a better place for other people. losing them together feels like an affront to all brighter angels, an attack on compassion, energy and kindness. it is professionally devastating. it is personally devastating. it is spiritually there are so many groups and organizations and people whose trajectories will be altered by their loss. this is not the time or the place to name them all. the people we have been mourning are three women. in our community, women have always played a critical role in facing the challenges of caring for veterans. largely a male population. like so many of their

colleagues, jiffy, christine and jennifer were part of a community of women who were fearless and committed. i want to recognize them for it. and i want to express my gratitude and love for the community around them, remarkable women who have served and continue to serve our veterans. for those who did not work with veterans or have much contact with them, i'd like to make something really clear. our departed colleagues were passionate about working with that group of americans and not as dispensers of charity on the afflicted. to those who might be tempted, please be weary of the easy narrative of veterans as a broken, miserable and dangerous group of people. the events of march 9, 2018 are unfathomably tragic. that is not what veterans are. we all love working with veterans. that will never change.

and that pep talk hunter pence gave in the dugout about looking into each other's eyes and playing for each other? focussing not on the jam you're in but on the love for each other? that's as accurate of the collective spirit of veterans you'll ever find. citizens like no other. i could stand here for an hour and read e-mails and play phone messages i've received from veterans over the past week that would have us all in tears. and that's why we love working with them. that's why jiffy and christine and jennifer dedicated their careers to them. many of you know exactly what i'm talking about. christine was from boston. jiffy and jennifer spent most of their adult lives in california. they converged in a community to confront issues that may seem niche to the public at large. but in fact are central to our national identity. five lives were destroyed last

friday. including t.j. and jennifer's yet to be born baby. they all belonged to families, to friends, to the people who knew them best. but they also belonged to all of us. active soul searching should come from this. active soul searching must come from this as individuals, as community members, and as a country. and though i cannot speak for our departed and beloved friends, i can look at how they led their lives for direction as we try to have these conversations productively in the weeks, months and years ahead. jiffy, christine and jen were good humored. they were kind. they did not believe easy stereotypes. they approached difficult problems with a balance of love, humility and wisdom. they used their inner light to fight darkness. they took ownership of problems that they themselves did not create. when terrible events happen,

fear has a tendency to take over. and if we are not careful, it can fracture ourselves and our communities. we may be shattered by what has hand, but we are not determined by what is happened. we decide what we do as individuals, as a community and as a country. not only will we never forget jennifer, christine and jennifer, we will continue their work, we will honor their lives. we will guard their legacies. we will carry their torches. together always. i will end with an excerpt from a poem written in 1941 by archibald mccleesh, typically read in honor of those lost in battle. it is called "the young, dead soldiers do not speak". hopefully it will guide us as we

nurture the spirit of work that jennifer, jen and christine brought to us and all of their work. we shall never forget them, not for one day. after reading the poem, brandy and i will present family members with flags on behalf of the department of veterans affairs and the california department of veterans they say we were young. we have died. remember us. they say we have done what we could. but until it is finished, it is not done. they say we have given our lives, but until it is finished, no one can know what our lives gave. they say our deaths are not ours. they are yours. they will mean what you make them. they say whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a

new hope or for nothing, we cannot say. it is you who must say this. we leave you our deaths. give them their meaning. secretary embossiani, representatives of the golick family, please come forward.

[ applause ] representatives of the loeber family, please come forward.

[ applause ]

representatives of the gonzalez family please come forward.

[ applause ] nam lis of the victims being

presented in a moving way with flags. our coverage for the memorial for jennifer golick, jennifer gonzalez sush reba and christine loeber is coming to an end here. >> it will continue on digital channel 7.2. we're also streaming it on abc7news.com, our abc 7 news app and facebook. we'll take a break here. jeopardy will continue on this channel. but join us on the digital channel to channel to ch and finally... the "c" in quotation marks. you know what that means. -rahul, start. -soup for $400. don't forget this soup from right here in the usa that can use different meats and, of course, okra. lisa. what is jambalaya? no. regis. -what is gumbo? -you got it. soup for $600.