To help veterans of the armed services, a chapter of the Student Veterans of America has been organized for Great Basin College students.
The "Battle Born Veterans" chapter was organized at GBC's main campus in Elko, where 11 student veterans have joined. Three Winnemucca GBC student veterans meet by interactive video with the Elko members.
The Winnemucca members are Olen Brown, Manuel Magana and Yezenia Ramirez. Brown served in the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico and also served a tour in Afghanistan. He is now using his veteran's benefits to attend college in Winnemucca.
Magana served four years in the Navy in Bremerton, Wash., aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.
Ramirez served two years as a mental health specialist at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and serves now as vice president of the Battle Born Veterans Club.
President of the club is Joe Micke. He is a veteran of six years' National Guard service. His college tuition is financed by veterans benefits. Jacob Park, a veteran of active duty Army service, is the club's adviser. Micke and Park are both at GBC Elko and are working to move the fledgling club forward. Micke said Battle Born Veterans will help the transfer from active duty to student life and employment, while offering the camaraderie of friends who understand the challenges.
They're working on things like a mission statement, setting up a meeting with the VA, bumper stickers, information fliers and other ideas on how to reach more veterans attending in GBC locations.
They're working on learning from their members what issues veterans are facing as they return from service and enroll in college classes. And they're looking for ways to create support for GBC's veteran-students to help them succeed in college.
Student Veterans of America's 800 chapters are open to pre and post-9/11 veterans, civilians and military dependents.
Joyce Sheen can be reached at j.sheen@winnemuccapublishing.net.[[In-content Ad]]
