Taking care of veterans

Monday, Aug. 17, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

The transition from service in the U.S. military to life in everyday society can be tough for any veteran. As part of the debt of gratitude that this nation owes its veterans, it is our obligation to make sure that their transition is as smooth as possible.

That courtesy should extend to veterans who are using the new GI Bill to attend UNLV.

The new GI Bill, which took effect this month and expands educational benefits for anyone with at least three months of military service since the 9/11 attacks, helps veterans by giving them greater access to the higher education they can use to advance in life after they leave the service.

As reported Friday by Stephanie Tavares in the Las Vegas Sun, an informal group of campus employees that includes financial aid staff members and a psychologist with experience in the Veterans Affairs Department have banded together to see what they can do to help students who are veterans. That is a good start.

Marine Corps veteran Michael Dakduk, a UNLV senior, told the Sun that veterans have also reached out to one another and have built relationships with the university. That, too, is encouraging.

But more should be done to help students who are veterans ease into campus life and take advantage of university services available to them. All faculty and staff — not just the voluntary group — should participate in this effort because UNLV benefits by having a student body with diverse life experiences. Veterans, particularly those who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan, certainly bring plenty of unique life experiences to the table.

As UNLV Student Veterans Organization President Antonio Montenegro III aptly told the Sun: “Our life experiences are different, we’re older, we often look different. And we don’t always want to be answering questions about what we did over there.”

With that in mind, anything UNLV can do to make sure that veterans stick with their studies and earn degrees will help Southern Nevada fulfill its obligation to the men and women who served this country.