Student veterans gathered for a meet-and-greet Thursday afternoon at the Student Center and took advantage of the chance to share their stories about drill sergeants, boot camp, deployment, bad chow, bad pay and many other facets of military life.
EMU junior Leah Yinger served as military police in the Army and now studying criminal justice. She said similar events could be beneficial to the veterans on campus.
“I think it’s really good way for us to connect and get additional information,” she said.
Yinger was injured before her scheduled tour of duty and was unable to deploy to Afghanistan.
“Make sure to ask questions,” was her advice to incoming veteran freshmen. “Really, the only problem I have had is the advising department. I would go in and ask questions and it seems they just want to get you in and out.”
John Sidelinker served in the Navy and was aboard the USS Thomas C. Hart during the 1970s.
“It’s good to be recognized for our service,” he said at the banquet.
Sidelinker worked as an electrician during his service and is a technician for the fire alarm system around EMU’s campus.
He said Veterans Day was a low-key event this year.
“I got with some buddies and just reminisced,” Sidelinker said. “It’s generally what we do. We just talk about friends that are still around.”
He also said veteran-focused events offer a chance to realize different opportunities available for returning service members.
“Sometimes it’s just good to get together and learn about resources that most other people don’t know about,” Sidelinker said.
The meet-and-greet had a continuous flow of visitors throughout the two hour event, including EMU President Susan Martin.
“We welcome all of our veterans, and we want to thank them for the service to their country,” she said. “They are very important part of our campus community.”
Martin said certain aspects of EMU make it veteran-friendly, such as in-state tuition for any veteran in the U.S. and a “one-stop center” for veterans at 401 Pierce Hall.
“EMU has a rich history of veterans,” she said. “We want to assist them in any way possible to make sure they get their degrees after returning from overseas or duty stateside.”
