California Lutheran University’s Ahmanson Veterans Resource Office hosted its annual Veterans Day Celebration in Ullman Commons on Monday, Nov. 11.
Guest speaker Capt. Jason G. Kranz spoke about recognizing the sacrifices veterans have made and how civilians can help them with their transition back into the real world.ย
Kranz said the main goal of his speech was to provide information about the different stages veterans go through to those who have limited knowledge of the military.
โThere’s two transitions. When you join the military, that’s the first shock, that’s the one you all see in movies, that’s boot camp, people yelling at you, all that stuff,โ Kranz said. โThere’s no similar regimented program for folks transitioning out of the military. I don’t think we put our active duty service members who are leaving the service in a good as a position as it could be to be successful when they go back into civilian life.โ
Kranz ended his speech by giving statistics on how many veterans end up homeless or committing suicide because they donโt know what else to do. Kranz said one of the best things that we can do for our veterans is embrace them.ย
โDon’t judge, just listen to what they have to say. Don’t make assumptions about their past,โ Kranz said. โYou see it on movies โฆ the angry veteran or the traumatized veteran, and there are those out there, but it’s not, it doesn’t represent the majority of veterans or the challenges they go through.โ
During his speech, Kranz also said that supporting veteran-owned businesses, veteran organizations, or just offering more job opportunities to veterans can help with their transition back into civilian life.ย
Assistant Director of Financial Aid/Veterans Coordinator Johanna Owens said this event is another opportunity to honor all veterans, active duty, dependents (students with a parent in the military using their benefits), and their families for all that they have sacrificed.ย
โI’m honored to be able to give more of a voice to those that have served.We have a great community of veterans and active duty and dependents,โ Owens said. โSo just another opportunity for them to be recognized for all that they do.โย
Owens said that they spend months preparing for this event, making sure that they hit every component to honor veterans the best they can. Owens also said one of the goals they set for this event was to build community and grow the celebration.ย
โFor this year, we have the โthank youโ cards that we’re going to send out to active duty overseas as part of the care packages,โ Owens said. โWe have our military-affiliated takeaways, so that way anyone who came and attended have an opportunity to kind of continue to honor our veterans.โ
Arianna Hackney, a junior dependent at Cal Lutheran, said that it was an honor for her to be one of the presenters on the panel at this event. Hackney said she was honored to recognize her mother and the sacrifices she has made for her.ย
โMy mom is, like, one of the biggest role models in my life. She’s always been there for me. She’s always set like this example, and I know, like, my life would not be what it is today if she hadn’t been in the military,โ Hackney said. โShe gave me my ability to kind of just adapt into any kind of situation because of her and moving around and things like that.โย
Hackney also said she was proud to be able to celebrate the day with others in attendance because celebrating Veterans Day feels so natural to her.ย
โIt just comes, like, it comes naturally, like, it’s a normal thing to have such a big day on this day,โ Hackney said.
Hackney said that some of her favorite parts of the event were seeing how many people came to listen to Kranz tell his story and the little activities they put together for others to get involved.
