In preparation of Memorial Day, LBCC\u2019s Veterans Services Office (VSO) placed over two thousand American flags at the LAC A Quad from Monday to Wednesday to honor fallen veterans.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The VSO, which is mainly composed of student veterans under work study programs, offers assistance for veterans and their dependents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Student veterans and volunteers placed the flags from 6 a.m. until midday with a precise and linear formation guideline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew Thackerson, an Afghanistan veteran and student who arrived early in the morning to assist in flag placement, shared that the flags represented the bigger picture of veteran lives lost both on and off duty and their sacrifices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing in the military, you do a lot of things where you\u2019re going to suffer, but it\u2019s never about the current moment, it\u2019s always about what you\u2019re building up to,\u201d Thackerson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LBCC student and veteran Gabriel Zuniga, who has assisted with the flag placements for the past three years, discussed that the transition back to civilian life is something that some veterans struggle to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had a few individuals who I\u2019ve lost personally that are close to me that I served with, and they not only made the sacrifice on the line of duty, but have also suffered from PTSD even though they came back and they unfortunately took their own lives\u2026even though they did their time and served, up until their last day on this earth were they still dealing with those kinds of mental health issues, it\u2019s unfortunate,\u201d Zuniga said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zuniga and Thackerson clarified that Memorial Day was more of a remembrance of life rather than a celebration.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt does sometimes kind of hit hard when there\u2019s people who aren\u2019t knowledgeable of what the day is about. Most take that day off, that\u2019s understandable, but the main thing is that there\u2019s a cost to freedom\u2026 doing the actual planting of the flags, you\u2019re thinking about what you’re doing and how to show respect, so we do our best to make sure they\u2019re placed in order and not broken or damaged,\u201d Zuniga said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thackerson recounted his own mental health experiences as a combat veteran and believed that assistance for veterans such as the help provided by the VSO is crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere were some tough times when I was coming back\u2026 the unfortunate part is every vet is a different case. I was a mechanic, so when you\u2019re serving, you have to do your job\u2026 this is how this works and you go apply it to 400 different vehicles. That\u2019s how we were taught, and unfortunately it really sticks to you and it\u2019s very hard when you have to do things like math for example where every step is just one line,\u201d Thackerson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A closing ceremony was held at the A quad at 11 a.m. on Thursday, and marked the end of preparations with a sounding of \u201cTaps\u201d over speakers at midday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vietnam veteran and student James Goodman and Zuniga voiced that the ceremony should have received more coverage from LBCC, citing an email sent out by the school for an LGBTQ flag raising at TTC on the same day as an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nothing against what they do, it\u2019s their prerogative, but it\u2019d be better with equality. Memorial Day is about veterans and what they fought for, so once we educate the community to understand that, that’s how we build a stronger community, especially because we veterans have lost a lot,\u201d Goodman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flags will stand over the weekend until Tuesday when classes resume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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