Volunteers helping veterans at Texas A&M

John Jay Carafano:
Texas A&M has a storied military past. Its Corps of Cadets was founded in 1876. Thousands of its graduates have served in the armed forces; eight have received the Medal of Honor.

Men and women still flock to join the "Corps" -- and that includesveterans. So many, in fact, that the university established "Delta Company," a unit of students composed solely of combat veterans. Many hope to get a degree and a commission and an opportunity to serve their country again.

Still wanting to serve, however, does not come cheap. "We all volunteered to be in the Corps of Cadets," acknowledge one young veteran in Delta Company, "but with that came more financial hardship other than just the uniform costs." Even with financial assistance from the GI Bill, making ends meet can be a challenge. Having already paid a price to serve their nation once, quite a few of these veteran student/cadets are struggling to cover the costs so they can serve again.

Almost a year ago, a group of local volunteers organized a screening of Veteran Nation, a documentary about how communities can serve those who served, at the Bush Presidential Library. They used the event as a "books for warriors" fundraiser, to help members of Delta Company pay for their textbooks. A recent graduate of Delta Company gave $20 he couldn't easily afford.

"If it helps guys stay with it," he said, "it’s worth it."

The group has blossomed into a full-blown program to support the Corps. Last semester, it handed out $20,000 in support scholarships to 32 cadets. One Delta Company veteran gratefully acknowledged how much extra support meant to her. Specifically, it allowed her “to devote more time to my studies and the cadets I mentor instead of having to pick up double shifts to make ends meet."

While Washington frets over the performance of the Veterans Administration, it’s worth remembering that the most important steps the nation can take to support its veterans are those that volunteers take every day.

The community of College Station and Texas A&M are a case in point. The local community effort that supports books for warriors is part of a bigger team. Texas A&M has become a model for how schools provide support for returning veterans. The university, for example, established a Veteran Resource and Support Center as a "one-stop shop" for all student veteran services. The center also helps veterans connect with one another so that they can learn from and about each another.
...
A&M has been a conduit supplying officers to the US military.  Veterans who want an education and an opportunity for further service to this country deserve our support.  It is another way to honor their service.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Washington Post: Some Democrats eye adding more justices to the Supreme Court to change its ideological bent The once-remote idea has gained the attention of liberals angered by the GOP push to remake the federal courts. Probably the easy way to defeat this court-packing scheme is for Trump to propose doing the same thing now.  It would lead to Democrat denunciations and claims that it would be wrong, thereby blowing up any attempt by them in the unfortunate event of Democrats winning a presidential election.
Read more

29 % of companies say they are unlikely to keep insurance after Obamacare

Conn Carroll: A new survey of 368 midsize to large companies found that 29% of them are considering terminating their active employee health care plans when Obamacare is full implemented in 2014. Only 71% of employers surveyed said they did not expect to drop their health coverage, while 20% said they did not know and 9% said they were planning to exit. The latest survey, conducted by Towers Watson, echoes an ealier survey by McKinsey & Co. finding that 30% of private-sector employers were planning to drop their employee health insurance coverage by 2014. When the Congressional Budget Office crunched Obamacare's spending numbers, they estimated that only 7% of employees currently covered by employer-sponsored plans would lose their plans. ... This means the cost of the health care fiasco will be hundreds of billions more than estimated by the CBO and Congressional Democrat. It is also clear that Obama's pledge that you could keep your health care plan if you wanted t
Read more

Bin Laden's concern about Zarqawi's remains

James Robbins: ... Bin Laden suggests that President Bush should allow Zarqawi’s body to be returned to his family in Jordan, but this is a matter that is up to the Jordanian government, which so far has not shown much interest in facilitating a homecoming. Bin Laden mocks King Abdullah II, calling him a Coalition minion, and asking “w hat scares you about Abu Musab after he’s dead? You know that his funeral, if allowed to happen, would be a huge funeral showing the extent of sympathy with the mujahedin.” A large crowd would definitely turn out, though most people would be on hand to demonstrate their anger and disgust. Last November’s hotel bombings in Amman , masterminded by Zarqawi, are still fresh in people’s memory, and mentioning them to Jordanians has the same visceral impact as memory of the 9/11 attacks does here. Jordan has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards those who choose to mourn the country’s least favorite son, and four opposition members of parliament who paid con
Read more