WOODLAND >> In honor of Yolo County service members who were killed in action, 298 flags were raised across the lawn at Woodland Community College.
The Student Veterans Club and Veterans Program of the college collaborated with the Woodland Community College Foundation to hold an Ask-A-Vet event earlier this month, where non-veteran students and faculty were able to ask questions, enjoy pizza, and chat with veterans.
The goal of the event was to increase the channel of communication between veterans and non-veterans on campus, according to Student Veterans Club President Isa McIntyre.
McIntyre was in the army for eight and a half years, she got out in 2012 after her husband sustained an injury in Afghanistan. She wants to open the dialogue between the two parties in the community and thought the best way was to start on campus.
“I had a young girl come in to the veteran’s service office one time and asked me if I was a veteran, and I told her yes. She asked me if I deployed, I told her yes. Then she asked me if I liked to hurt people, and I thought that was kind of strange,” she said. “At first it made me angry, but I realized she was just misinformed. We get that a lot, we get a lot of questions like ‘do you have PTSD? Are you crazy?’”
She said that conversation sparked the idea for the Ask-A-Vet event. With May being Military Appreciation Month, and Memorial Day just over two weeks away, McIntyre thought it would be nice to have a flag display to honor the fallen service members.
Todd Sasano is the Coordinator for the Veterans Program at the College, his job is to help veterans on campus get connected with services that they need. He said the acclamation process for veterans coming to college can be difficult, so the event is just one way to show support.
“Woodland Community College is a military-friendly school, we support our veterans and appreciate their service for our country,” he said. “We want students aware of the Yolo County members who served.”
The school’s president Dr. Michael White was in attendance for the event, and shared his sentiments.
“I think the event speaks for itself, especially the visual of the 298 flags,” he said. “It’s impressive.”
