2012 Executive Board Members

Executive Board Chairman - Denver F. Mills
Mr. Mills works in Concord, CA and has worked professionally in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center Program with veterans for over 20 years specializing in the treatment post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat veterans. He served with the U.S. Navy as an advisor to small boat operations with the Vietnamese Navy in 1969 and 1970. He is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Santa Barbara and Newport University he holds advanced degrees in Social Psychology and Psychology. Prior to his current position he served as the founding director in Santa Barbara of a federal veteran counseling program.

Director - Jerry Yahiro
Mr. Yahiro was born in Wailuku, Hawaii. He is a graduate of Seattle University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. He served in the US Army from 1967 to 1969. He served a tour in Vietnam in 1967 to 1968 as a Mortar Platoon Leader with the 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. He has been with the East Bay Stand Down since 1998 and as Director since 1999. Jerry is an avid fisherman and has won awards for bill fish contests. He is retired from SBC and lives with Patty in their beautiful home in Danville, CA.

Assistant Director for Program - Donald F. Rinker
Mr. Rinker is Director, Memorial Service Network V, National Cemetery Administration. He has responsibility for the operation of 16 national cemeteries in nine western states. He holds a master's degree in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree in Public Administration from California State University, Hayward. He served two years in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Korea with the 7th Infantry Division, 1969-70.

Assistant Director for Logistics - Mike Weber
Mr. Weber is a Realtor in Danville. He went to Central Washington State College where graduated with a Bachelors in Business Administration. He served in the U.S. Army as a medic with the 1st Medical Company in Pleiku. Mike as worked with EBSD since its beginning, and has also worked with Central Valley Stand Down. Mike contributes to his community in many ways including special programs for hospitalized veterans at the Livermore Division of the Palo Alto VA Hospitals, and in Operation Wheel Chair, delivering wheel chairs to third world countries.

Skip Benz
Mr. Benz has been in the Merchant Card Services Industry for over a dozen years and has just recently brought a “Donation Now” button to the Stand Down web site through NPC Merchant Services. He served two tours of duty in Southeast Asia and the Far East in the Air Force as a Jet Engine Mechanic on F105 & F4 Fighter Planes. He became involved with EBSD 2000 and became a member of the executive board thereafter spearheading Recovery Services. Being a San Francisco Bay Area native Skip has seen the incredible wealth of community spirit and giving that help make events like these incredibly successful. Mr. Benz has served Stand Down for over a decade.

Barton Buechner
Bart Buechner is the former Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Home of California - Yountville, the nation's largest veterans' long-term care facility (1200 residents). He was with the California Department of Veterans Affairs in April, 2005 following recall to active duty with the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington D.C. as a Navy Captain, first serving as Director, Operations and Training for the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, and later as Military Assistant to the Inspector General. He is a 1978 graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and a 1997 graduate of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Martin De Venuta
Marty De Venuta is an Accountant with a major financial institution in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has over 35 years experience as an Accountant. Marty enlisted in September 1966 in the U.S. Air Force and was an Administrative Specialist. He attained the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-5) in December 1969 and was discharged in June 1970. His overseas assignments included Mactan Island, Philippines (1967-1968), 2 temporary duty tours at Ton Son Nhut Airbase, Vietnam (1967 & 1968) and his final year of service was with Bomber Operations at U-Tapao Royal Thai Airfield in Thailand (1969-1970). Marty is a member of various veteran organizations. He began working with the East Bay Stand Down back in 2004. Marty is currently the CFO/Treasurer of the Diablo Valley Veterans Foundation and has served as an Officer and Director on local chapters of professional accounting and tax organizations.

George Gibbs
Mr. Gibbs has recently retired from the Comprehensive Homeless Center of San Francisco, California. George has spent six years in positions administering Readjustment Counseling in Bay Area Vet Centers for combat Viet Nam Veterans. On the front lines of homelessness, George has provided outreach, group, life skills and supportive counseling to those veterans on the street and in or recently released from prison. He has been involved with San Francisco's Mayor's Veterans Advisory Commission for many years. George also served eight years on the Haight-Ashbury Food Program Board of Directors.

Dan Helix
Dan Helix retired as a major general in 1989, after a 41-year career in both active and reserve components of the U. S. Army. He is a member of the U.S. Army's Infantry Hall of Fame located at Fort Benning, Georgia, authorized to wear the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge, and the parachutist badge which he earned at the age of 50. General Helix has served as Mayor and Councilman of the City of Concord, California, and was a Director of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. He is a published author of a novel set in the Korean War era and has several published articles and short stories that have been published in military journals. He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Concord.

D. Ronald Hyde
The Honorable Judge Hyde served as Judge of the Superior Court for five years, subsequent to being Presiding Judge at the Livermore-Pleasanton-Dublin Municipal Court for fourteen years, and in Private Practice in the Livermore-Amador Valley with a specialization in Family Law. He implemented and coordinated a Multi-Jurisdictional "Homeless Court " at East Bay Stand Down 2000, the first of its kind in the state. He holds degrees from St. Mary's College, Moraga, California, in biochemistry and from Golden Gate University Law School, JD. He is now retired and lives with his beautiful wife in Pleasanton and in Mexico.

Ronald Lowe
Ronald L. Lowe retired in 2004 as a Major General after 38 years of Army service. He served on active duty in Europe and Vietnam, then joined the Army Reserve where he held command positions in psychological operations and civil affairs units. Later as a reservist he served as the Army Deputy Director of Communications and as the Deputy Commander of Eighth Army. He was recalled to active duty in 2000 to serve as Chief of Staff of the US Pacific Command until his retirement. General Lowe retired from AT&T in 1997, having served as the Executive Director of General Contracting. General Lowe currently serves as a volunteer Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Sentinels of Freedom, as President of the Diablo Valley Veterans Foundation, as an Advisory Board Member of the San Ramon Valley Veterans Memorial Building Development Committee and as a Director of the All Wars Memorial Foundation.

WE DON'T LEAVE OUR WOUNDED BEHIND