Veterans Services<\/a> assists students on campus, many student veterans also rely on the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs for educational benefits, healthcare and employment assistance. The recent government shutdown, which ended on Wednesday and was the longest in recorded history, has delayed access to those services.\u00a0<\/p>\nOne student veteran who attended the event was Sixto Roman Delgado, a fifth-year biology major and former Marine who worked as a 0331 machine gunner for four years. Delgado said he uses Veterans Services every day, often spending time in the lounge and taking breaks between classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cool seeing some new veterans that I haven\u2019t seen on campus before\u2026seeing what they\u2019re up to and talking about their experiences and everything,\u201d Delgado said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Delgado has been waiting for an appointment to ensure his new authorization codes, which are needed for Veteran Affairs to cover his tuition and fees. The shutdown, however, has delayed his appointment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the government shutdown, the appointments are getting pushed back,\u201d Delgado said. \u201cI have an appointment with my representative in a couple weeks, so that\u2019s when I\u2019ll know if I\u2019m able to do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Janet Marquez, a second-year applied anthropology major who attended the event, served in the Navy, working in aviation maintenance for four years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lot of friends that are [on] active duty and [the shutdown] really affecting them more than actual veterans,\u201d Marquez said. \u201cWhen it comes to medical, education, as well as even employment services \u2026 it affects a lot of what we can get and how fast we can get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marquez noted that Veteran Services is a good place to study, take naps or get snacks. He also expressed his gratitude for the commemoration event, saying that even if it\u2019s something small, it goes a long way for him and other veterans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen our Veteran Resource Center become more than just an office; it\u2019s become a living room, it\u2019s become a pitstop, it\u2019s a place to take a nap,\u201d McDuel said, adding that it\u2019s a space where students can \u201cfind their people.\u201d<\/p>\n
McDuel expressed gratitude to the faculty and staff who made efforts to connect and understand the experiences of those who have served.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey mentor, they advocate, they help create the kind of campus that understands what it means to serve and continue serving in new ways,\u201d McDuel said.<\/p>\n
The speeches concluded with a special ceremony, which included a cake, marking the Marine Corps\u2019 250th birthday. Then, the event moved next to Peterson Hall, where free tacos were provided.<\/p>\n
CSULB Interim President Andrew Jones, who made a special appearance, also expressed his gratitude to those who have served.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are grateful beyond measure for your service and your sacrifices, and we value the unique perspectives, knowledge and experiences you bring to your classrooms, to your workplaces and communities,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CSULB students and U.S. Army members present U.S. and California flags before the Pledge of Allegiance during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-54762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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