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Alex Ortiz, the veteran services director in Milton and Randolph, appears in the first episode of “Veteran Stories with Alex Ortiz,” a new program on Milton Access TV highlighting the service and lives of local veterans.
With a new director in place, Milton and Randolph’s shared veterans department is finding creative ways to support veterans and elevate their service in the two communities.
Under the leadership of Veteran Services Director Alex Ortiz, who began in July, Randolph has started a peer support group for veterans and first responders, and Milton Access TV recently released the first episode of “Veteran Stories with Alex Ortiz,” to honor the military service of people connected to the town. The two initiatives are efforts by the towns to ensure that their veterans are both seen and heard.
Ortiz, an Army combat veteran who served tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, has worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and served on an advisory committee for that department, chairing a subcommittee on the Caribbean territories. In 2024, the White House recognized him as one of five Latino veterans leading change across the United States and its territories.
“Working with veterans is not only near and dear in my heart, because I served and I understand the struggles,” Ortiz said, “but a lot of the things that we learned can be applied locally, in terms of not only municipal government and efficiency, [but] having the ability to bring all these learned lessons from federal structures, compliance, and regulatory issues.”
The Randolph meetings, which started in September, give veterans and first responders a safe space to talk about mental health issues, finances and veterans benefits. The meetings, averaging a dozen attendees, have some structure, but pairs or smaller groups can break off for private conversations. There are only two rules, he said.
“We don’t talk about politics, and we don’t talk about religion,” Ortiz said. “Those are two big divisive subjects. Anything else is game.”
Ortiz said it’s important to pair veterans and first responders, given the overlap in the groups and the similarities in the stress and traumatic situations they’ve faced. The group offers opportunities for mentoring, he said, and support to help strengthen the bonds for first responders.
“So building, rebuilding that camaraderie within the town, to me, is critical, because once you build those relationships, then we can share benefits, we can share information,” Ortiz said. “We can also, in times of crisis or in need — whether it be suicidal ideation or financial economic hardship — we can cover those because you have a confidant within the community that’s your town, that you can trust. … So that’s the whole purpose of having the peer support group.”
Over the border in Milton, residents will be learning more about the town’s veterans through Ortiz’s new cable show. The local TV station released the first episode in November, and Ortiz said he hopes to record the next two episodes soon. The recordings of the interviews will also be stored in the Library of Congress, he said.
The first episode features Col. Mark Denton, executive officer to the undersecretary of the Army, who discusses his early childhood in Jamaica, his move to Milton at age 10, his combat experiences and rise through the ranks, and the importance of resilience in his career. In November, Denton spoke at Veterans Day ceremonies in Milton and in Randolph, where he also has family.
“Milton and the community gave so much to me,” Denton said in the episode. “Doing the guest speaking for Veterans Day is a full-circle moment for me — just to give back and share my story, and I hope it’s a story of hope for somebody that’s going to watch this.”
Milton has already seen the effort pay off, Ortiz said, with a near doubling of gift card donations for veterans between the Thanksgiving and the December holidays, which he attributed to the popularity of the Denton interview.
Ortiz said he hopes the program inspires a new generation to enter military service, because they can see themselves in the veterans who are being interviewed.
“It hasn’t cost us anything to do this, it’s just been a benefit for everybody,” Ortiz said. “Milton TV gets content. The veteran gets a story at the Library of Congress. And the town is seen as doing more for veterans, a new outlet, a new media. So it’s definitely a PR multiplier when it comes to what the town’s doing for the veterans.”