By Bulletin Staff
Monday is Veteran’s day, a day that began as a celebration of the end of World War I but over the years morphed into a national holiday that honors all those men and women, past and present, who have served in the U.S. Military. That includes the approximately 150 CSUDH students who identify as military veterans and utilize services at the CSUDH Veteran’s Resource Center, one of 22 CSU campuses in the system that have such a center.
But at CSUDH, the term military-connected is preferred to a veteran, as the center is utilized by not only those veterans but 200 dependents, usually a spouse or child of a veteran.
And that is what we’d like to point out in this editorial: that regardless of one’s subjective opinion about war, or an “America-right-or-wrong, love-it-or-leave it” mentality, or if you have serious concerns about American hegemony, the military-industrial complex and the glorification of violence, that on Veteran’s Day it is the people who served and sacrificed–and who serve and sacrifice–and their families who should be the focus, not the “rightness” or “wrongness” of the conflict.
The reasons why people volunteer for the military are varied: some may feel a duty to their country; some may be looking for a direction in life; others for adventure or glory or to learn a skill or want structure and discipline. But regardless of why they enlisted, every one of them benefits from the government programs offered to all enlisted men and women.
The first such program was the 1944 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, also known as the G.I. bill, provides financial support to veterans pursuing higher education. The most current version of the bill is the Post 9/11 G.I. bill created in 2009.
And through the years, the government has continued that support. On Aug. 21, 2019, Donald Trump enacted an automatic loan forgiveness program for disabled veterans affecting approximately 25,000 disabled veterans.
CSUDH provides military-connected students with the tools that they need to succeed at CSUDH such as financial support, one-on-one tutoring, workshops, and academic support.
“We have the Veteran’s Resource Center, we try to be a one-stop-shop for military needs, really our job is to help them navigate the complex enrollment process and helping them with any issues they have here…Our job is to support them and guide them,” said Director of the Veteran’s Resource Center, DaWayne Denmark.
The Veteran’s Resource Center is located in room 3941 of the Leo F. Cain Library and is open Monday-Thurs. from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
