UCLA - University of California - Los Angeles
11/11/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/11/2024 13:29
UCLA and veterans: Respect, shared values and a vibrant partnership
"While Veterans Day is a tribute to all who have served, the holiday also invites us to recognize the veterans within our own UCLA community," Interim Chancellor Darnell Hunt recently wrote in a message to the campus community. "Having given much to our country, they are now bringing to UCLA their considerable talents, experience and commitment to the common good."
Since its inception, UCLA has been supporting those who have served - on campus, in Los Angeles and beyond. Through a wide of initiatives and partnerships like the UCLA/VA Veteran Family Wellness Center, the School of Law Veterans Legal Clinic,UCLA Health Operation Mend and the Veterans Resource Center, the university continues to create opportunities for veterans and their families to further their education, pursue careers and thrive in a supportive environment.
The university has likewise benefited greatly from its student veterans, and their diverse backgrounds, life experiences and commitment to excellence have enriched the academic and cultural environment of the campus. Many have gone on to become leaders in their fields, contributing to the university's academic prestige and the broader society.
This Veterans Day, in celebration of that deep, ongoing partnership - built on mutual respect and shared values of service, resilience, and excellence - Newsroom takes a look back at some of our best veteran-related stories of the past decade.
They served their adoptive nation - and found a path to medicine along the way
When Jose Chevalier, Isabelle Trinh Phan and Nam Yong Cho enlisted in the U.S. military, they were thinking of their families. Their families were, after all, the strongest support system these three Bruins had after immigrating to the U.S. from various parts of the globe, and joining up meant easing the pressure on their loved ones. But it was a good thing for a variety of reasons.
While none of these student veterans could have predicted it, their military experiences would also point them toward academic and career trajectories in medicine, eventually leading two of them to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and one to the UCLA College as a pre-med student with hopes of attending the medical school in the future.
► Watch: Andrew Dymond, from Marines to med school
Boot camp in business suits helps student veterans land post-military career
Navy veteran Daniel Hoffman is an electrician who's passionate about forensic accounting, which he likens to a puzzle. The energetic economics major, youngest in a familial line of Bruins, can break down the refueling process for nuclear-powered vessels. In fact, he sometimes gets a little carried away by his enthusiasm for that subject.
"You talked a little bit fast when you get into your military experience," a recruiter said after a run-though interview at the UCLA Veterans Employment Bootcamp. "Slow it down a little bit, paint that picture for me."
That face-to-face feedback is key to the employment bootcamps held for veterans at UCLA. Led by the Veteran Resource Center, with support from Wounded Warrior Project and consulting and accounting firm Deloitte, the intensive workshops take student veterans through every mile of the job-hunting journey.
UCLA and VA partner to revive West LA campus garden for veterans
For as long as Cyntrea Cotton can remember, doctors told the New York native and U.S. Air Force veteran that her chances of developing high blood pressure were elevated. With a long family history of hypertension, they warned, she would likely have to manage high blood pressure for the rest of her life.
"But today, it's gone," Cotton said. "I no longer have high blood pressure, after eating more raw and less-processed foods. I'm 48 years old now and healthier than ever."
Cotton credits the dramatic improvement in her health to a wholesome, nutrient-rich and organic-heavy diet. The inspiration for this lifestyle change began with a tiny seed planted in the Veteran's Garden at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, near the university.
Finding a future in a shared adventure with his son
Eduardo Jacques Martinez had always envisioned himself going into accounting.
But after he completed a stint as a Marine reservist and was preparing to apply to transfer from Long Beach City College to a four-year university, his Veterans Affairs counselor advised him to consider fields that were connected to his passions.
So, after some introspection - a process he refers to as "self-digging" - Martinez opted to apply to UCLA, where he would pursue a major in geology.
"As a child, I always loved to go on outdoor adventures with the family and be surrounded by nature," Martinez said. "I'm also a single dad, so having my son see and enjoy the outdoors made me even more excited about studying geology."
UCLA Extension works with VA to prepare veterans for workplace success
Wearing his dark blue Veterans Affairs carpenter's uniform, Daniel Martin stands in front of a UCLA Extension classroom. His audience is made up of a dozen military veterans, ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s, some wearing baseball caps representing the branches of the military in which they served.
Some are leaning over their course materials, labeled with their names; others are sitting back in their seats, sipping coffee. All of them are focused on Martin and his story. They identify with him. Not long ago, Martin was sitting where they are now.
Martin is a graduate of the Success Academy, a collaboration between UCLA Extension and the VA of Greater Los Angeles that began in 2019. After being interrupted by the pandemic, the program is only now holding its second set of classes, and on this day in early November, Martin is back to share his story as a guest speaker for the current group of students.
Former Navy submarine expert takes on new mission at UCLA
Daryl Barker is particularly passionate about connecting nontraditional, and often underserved, students - veterans, transfers, students with dependents, and others - with the vast resources of the UCLA Library and helping students utilize those resources to empower them in their education.
It's a commitment that grew out of his firsthand experience of just how overwhelming navigating library and college resources could be for a 25-year-old first-time student. It made little difference that Barker was a technical specialist in the U.S. Navy and a leader in his military community - understanding the workings of the university was something entirely new.
"I was operating a nuclear reactor on a submarine and doing it at a pretty high level when I separated [from the Navy]. Six weeks later, I was in college, and there's a 19-year-old sitting behind the desk at the library," Barker said, recalling how awkward it felt transitioning from expert to novice in the blink of an eye.
WWII veteran, 102, regains his hearing and social life, thanks to UCLA cochlear implant program
In 1944, while Irving Poff was flying in formation with a squadron of 28 other Army Air Force planes, an engine on his plane failed five minutes before he was ordered to drop 6,000 pounds of explosives over an Austrian oil refinery. Knowing German fighters liked to pick off solo flyers, he diverted full-throttle emergency power to his remaining three engines.
"We were supposed to limit emergency power to six minutes to prevent the engines from overheating and exploding," Poff recalled. "But I pushed it to 10 and stayed in formation."
Regularly racing 20,000 feet skyward in the plane's unpressurized cabin wreaked havoc on Poff's inner ears, though, and that damage led to lifelong hearing loss.
When his hearing aids stopped working 75 years later, Poff didn't hesitate to pursue surgery for a cochlear implant at UCLA. The 102-year-old became one of the oldest Americans to receive the life-changing technology.
Professor pens opera about veterans and mental health
Kenneth Wells, professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, has spent years working with veterans in Los Angeles as a clinician and a researcher. He also has sung and been a choral director since he was a teenager. Marrying the two interests, he wrote an opera called "Veteran Journeys," that draws on his more than a decade of experience as a practitioner.
More than only an opera, "Veteran Journeys" is also, to Wells, a documentary and shared lived experience that explores the trauma of war, family conflicts and homelessness - but also recovery and hope through receiving veteran services.
"Veteran Journeys" is Wells' third opera that touches on mental health themes, and is based on research interviews from the RAND Corporation's partners in care study and his own family members' experiences.
From 'Semper Fi' to the patient's bedside
At first glance, James Tran's journey prior to entering nursing school may seem a world away from his new career. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps straight out of high school and, after a number of stops along the way, found himself patrolling the streets of Northern California as a police officer. But a deeper look reveals a common thread: the desire to help and serve others.
Now Tran, 34, will fulfill a longtime ambition by joining the nursing profession. It was, he admits, a long road.
As a high school student in Fremont, California, Tran lacked motivation, doing the minimum classwork required to stay on the school's soccer team and having no clear eye on the future. But then 9/11 happened. "I watched first responders and average citizens risking their lives to help others at Ground Zero," he said. Tran wanted to help too.
UCLA Marine veteran will use his expertise to make soldiers safer
Zeeshan Parvez became an explosives expert during his time in Marine Special Operations Command. Now the UCLA doctoral student is becoming an expert in ways to protect service members from explosives.
"Overseas you see improvised explosives used against Americans, and they're some of the more dangerous things on the battlefield," Parvez said. "Even if the enemy changes, explosives are going to remain. I want to try to make it safer."
On his road to create a business that can provide the tools and training to decrease military deaths from explosives, Parvez came to study materials chemistry in UCLA's chemistry and biochemistry department.
Initially, he said, transitioning out of the military and back to civilian life was challenging. Now, he stays connected with UCLA's Veteran Resource Center. He studies and socializes in their lounge, and regularly volunteers with the VRC at a local garden on the nearby VA campus.
Vietnam veteran marks 10 years of walks to raise money for UCLA's Operation Mend
Ric Ryan, 72, fought for his country in Vietnam, has had both knees and one hip replaced and, in August, was struck by a car at a crosswalk. The accident took him out of action for several weeks, but soon he was back trekking along the streets near his hometown of Murphys, California, to raise money for a UCLA program that helps wounded veterans of post-9/11 conflicts.
In 2008, Ryan had seen a TV news story about UCLA Health's Operation Mend, which provides specialty medical and psychological health care for veterans and includes their families in the care.
Inspired by the story, he embarked on a one-man fundraising campaign, raising awareness during his regular walks through town. Local residents soon heard what he was doing and began pulling over their cars to hand him cash and checks. Eventually, Ryan set collection cans around town and people gave more. Ten years later, Ryan has walked more than 8,000 miles and raised about $125,000.
Veterans gain vital legal aid through new UCLA Law clinic
Growing up with a parent who had served in the military during the Vietnam War era, UCLA law student Ian Grady learned the value of service to country - and to one's fellow person.
Now he's putting that experience into action through a new UCLA School of Law clinic that offers essential legal assistance to vulnerable military veterans in Southern California.
Located at the Department of Veterans Affairs campus in West Los Angeles, the Veterans Legal Clinic, which opened in August, allows UCLA Law students to help veterans gain access to benefits and address criminal justice issues in order to enhance their opportunities for jobs, housing and stability.
"As the stepson of a veteran," Grady says, "this work is very meaningful to me."
Coach Wooden's 'commitment to mission' guides former Navy test pilot in his career
A former Navy flight officer, test pilot and veteran of multiple carrier deployments over 21 years of service, Doug Larratt enrolled in UCLA Anderson in fall 2015 with a résumé packed with a career's worth of achievements.
He has flown through post-Gulf War oil fires in Kuwait, helped evacuate refugees from a volcano eruption in the Philippines and logged in 2,260 total flight hours in 26 different aircraft and 501 carrier landings.
Today, Larratt is a program director at Orbital ATK, where he manages design, development and production of major air-launched missile systems. His current project, the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range, is the next-generation missile for FA-18 and F-35 JSF aircraft.
Larratt, the recipient of a John Wooden Global Leadership Fellowship, is very clear about why he has come to UCLA for his M.B.A. "You can never stop learning," he says. "I didn't come to make a career transition or jump. It's an opportunity to continue to grow."
Once homeless, Vietnam veteran turns to UCLA for a fresh start
As a homeless Vietnam veteran in the 1980s, Rick Martinez had to seek shelter nightly - sometimes at UCLA or the grounds of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus. At one point, to get out of bad weather, he stayed warm and comfortable in the staircase at the top floor of a Holiday Inn alongside the 405 freeway.
"If anyone came, I was just going to say I was looking for the bathroom," he recalled. "That turned out to be my home for about two months."
The unpredictable symmetry of life was not lost on Martinez when he found himself decades later back at UCLA, this time as a participant of the UCLA Anderson School of Management's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities. And the hotel the program put him up in during the course? The Hotel Angeleno - formerly the Holiday Inn.
"So it's come full circle; I'm home," Martinez said.
Veteran's gift to help UCLA student vets cover funding gaps left by GI Bill
With one quarter remaining until graduation, UCLA student veteran Michael Smith ran into a serious problem: Funding from his GI Bill ran dry because he didn't complete his degree within the allotted 36 months. So the U.S. Air Force veteran of almost 10 years was forced to scramble to find the extra money to finish his degree.
"It would be a huge weight off a veteran's shoulders not to have to worry about how you're going to pay for school or housing - and just worry about studying," Smith said.
That's precisely why William Steinmetz left instructions to donate money to UCLA before he died three years ago. Bill was a World War II veteran who was able to graduate from UCLA with the help of the GI Bill. Throughout his life, he remained an active UCLA alumnus and donor.
"His core issue was supporting the guys and gals coming back from military service," said his son Charlie.