Although I thank God to live in a country with free elections, I absolutely dread the bitter arguments that flare up during presidential campaign season. The next presidential election is far off, but I’m reminded of summers growing up in Iowa, when there was a rumble of thunder from dark, distant clouds echoing over the cornfields. My uncle, on the old family farm, might shake his head. “Gonna be a bad one.”
One issue candidates have tried to address is the challenge students face paying for college. My solution, years ago, was to enlist in the National Guard.
I recently had coffee with Dave Millet, director of the Veterans Resource Center at Eastern Washington University, a man who works with many students who took similar steps to pay for college. The VRC’s mission statement includes the sort of language one might expect: “support the unique recruitment, retention, and educational needs of students whose lives are connected to the military,” and so on. But Mr. Millet’s dedication goes far beyond slogans. The retired Army infantry lieutenant colonel keeps a regulation haircut and stays fit with many bike rides, and he makes it clear that he cares about making all soldiers and veterans feel welcome on campus.
He doesn’t allow any plaques or other signs of his rank in his office. “I don’t want a young student veteran to salute or call me ‘sir,’” he said. “You’re Trent, and I’m Dave.” Though duty would have required me to salute him were we in uniform, he was quick to point out, “Our experiences are more important than what rank we held.”
In 2011, EWU, like a lot of colleges, employed one person in the registrar’s office to process veterans’ tuition assistance paperwork. Dave and others saw a greater need to assist soldiers and veterans on campus, and after several meetings and proposals, the center opened in 2012, a dedicated place on campus for veterans to meet, study, and receive career counseling and assistance applying for benefits.
“A big part of an infantry officer’s job is to help young soldiers,” Dave said. He didn’t stop helping when he retired. He works with a lot of young veterans in their early 20s, who remain “a little anxious in their first quarter.”
He remembered a young Air Force veteran who went by her call sign, “Blackbird.” She really struggled when she first began school. But with help from the VRC, she “settled down academically and figured out what she was good at.” She eventually earned a biology degree and full-ride scholarship to Notre Dame, where she earned a master’s degree working on insect-spread diseases.
A former Marine Corps sniper had never been a good student, but the VRC helped him put his GI Bill benefits to work and provided community and support as he went on to earn straight A’s before applying to law school.
Eastern Washington University is 12 miles from Fairchild Air Force Base, and with several nearby reserve units and Joint Base Lewis-McChord on the other side of the state, the college welcomes plenty of veterans. Yet it was clear to me that Dave looked well beyond the numbers; here was a man who truly believed in the old mantra, “Mission first. Soldiers always.”
He pointed out how even though he doesn’t pin on military medals anymore, he loves helping people navigate the transition from military to academic life. One of his favorite duties is working at commencement, watching the veterans walk across the stage with red, white, and blue honor cords complementing their gowns. During the ceremony, when the time comes for all veterans to stand and be recognized, there is always the loudest applause.
Amid the presidential campaign season’s constant reminder of the bitter divide among Americans, shows of unity, such as the celebration of graduates, especially of those who are also veterans, as well as the service and dedication of men such as Dave Millet, offer much-needed encouragement.
Trent Reedy served as a combat engineer in the Iowa National Guard from 1999 to 2005, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
