CARSON CITY — A longtime journalist and educator, who primarily served in the Nevada Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves, was honored on Oct. 18 as the Nevada Department of Veterans Services Veteran of the Month of September.
The NDVS recognized Steve Ranson of Fallon for not only his 28 years of military service, but for the additional years he has supported various veterans and civic organizations throughout the state. He retired in 2009 as a lieutenant colonel. He is also editor emeritus of the Lahontan Valley News, but he continues to write military and veterans articles for several news sources, including the Nevada News Group and This Is Reno.
“He volunteers time to research and write stories on active duty and reservists and the National Guard,” said Joseph Thiele, executive officer of NDVS. “He told his stories from the front line to the communities back home.”
Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony presented the award. Congressional representatives from the offices of Congressman Mark Amodei U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen presented certificates.
“The State of Nevada is committed to serving our veterans,” Anthony said, adding he and Gov. Joe Lombardo are also supportive of the veteran community. “We have a very robust Nevada Department of Veterans services.”
Ranson was an educator for 30 years, teaching at Wells (Nevada) High School and the Department of Dependents Schools in Panama and Churchill County School District, where he taught high-school English and journalism. He was vice principal at the Churchill County Middle School (formerly the junior high school).
In 1974, Ranson received his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a dual major in journalism and English and a Master of Education in Educational Administration and Higher Learning in 1980.
In 1981, Ranson enlisted in the Nevada Army National Guard, received a commission and attended his Adjutant General Corps officer basic training in 1984 and his advanced officer training in 1990, where he was named an honor graduate. He completed the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College in 1996.
During his years in the military, Ranson was commander of the State Area Command, executive officer and interim commander of the 106th Pubic Affairs, a battalion officer during Desert Storm and state command information officer for Joint Force Headquarters.
Ric Fairbanks, who recently retired from the Fallon JobConnect office, nominated Ranson for the award.
“Steve’s biggest contribution to our state has been his contributions and efforts in supporting our Armed Forces and their various missions,” Fairbanks wrote. “From the training that takes place at Naval Air Station Fallon (Top Gun), to the deployment of our National Guard units to faraway lands, Steve’s writing and disseminating of these stories help educate and inform our local communities not only on veterans’ issues, resources, programs and events but the personalizes our neighbors and their contributions to our communities.”
Fairbanks said Ranson enlightens the non-military community by writing about what is important to veterans, opening a door for broader communication.
“For over 30 years now, I have had the privilege of participating in all kinds of military events from military installation change of command ceremonies to veterans’ Job Fairs and during all that time, I’ve had the pleasure of observing Steve at most — if not all — of them,” he added. “Most recently Steve covered the Veterans and Military Day at the Legislature (VAMDAL) event in which he was running back and forth from the state library building to the legislative building trying to cover all the major events of the day.”
Fairbanks noted Ranson, along with two other authors, wrote “Legacies of the Silver State: Nevada Goes to War,” which focuses on Nevada’s World War II veterans and their stories. Proceeds from book sales have been directed to Honor Flight Nevada.
Ranson served as president of the Nevada Press Association and the International Society of Weekly Newspapers, and has been on the Churchill Entrepreneurial Development Authority for a decade. He is an inductee of the Nevada Army National Guard Hall of Fame, and a sportswriter inducted into the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and Churchill County Greenwave halls of fame.
Ranson said the stories need to be told, and that’s why he reached out to a fellow Nevada Guard commander to sponsor him to embed in Afghanistan. He also accompanied the Nevada Guard to Romania in January to report on a Carson City-based military police unit that had been deployed to a NATO base near the Black Sea.
Ranson self-funded his three overseas trips to report on the Nevada Guard.
During the presentation, Ranson recognized his co-authors of “Legacies of the Silver State: Nevada Goes to War.” In less than three years, he said the book has netted more than $25,000 for Honor Flight Nevada.
