Student veterans from different military backgrounds work together to help others
By: LIVIE HALL
Managing Editor
The first thing Josh Gage does when he walks into a classroom is observe. He looks at the people around him and he said he locates the nearest exits. In the back row, he sees a student with a hard stare and crew cut. Gage knows that look — the look of a military man. As an STLCC-Meramec student who did two tours in Iraq, this is familiar. He takes a seat next to him.
After his time in Iraq, he said he wanted to do something different with his life, so he enrolled at Meramec. However, the things he saw overseas are still with him.
“Those images do not leave you; the memories will never go away. They will haunt me for the rest of my life,” Gage said.
What he saw is similar to what you see in a war movie, he said. He was involved in three improvised explosive device (I.E.D.) explosions, was within 300 feet of an Iraqi rocket and was involved in a mortar attack.
He was one of the first people who responded, trying to save as many lives as possible in a battle where so many had already been lost.
When Gage first came home, he had trouble adjusting to normal life again. Never sober and constantly fighting, he went a year without having a job. Now at the age of 32, he and his girlfriend have built a stable life, he said.
He still has symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD,) but he has gained some normalcy.
A LOVE FOR THE MILITARY
Veteran’s Club Secretary Melenie Bongner never made it past boot camp, but her love for the military is still strong, she said.
In 2008, she enlisted in the United States Navy. In 2009, her recruiter tried to assault her, she said.
In 2010, they cancelled her contract altogether. They told her they would reassign the officer, but she was no longer allowed to join – “she was not worth it.”
Being fifth-generation military, it was a really big disappointment. It was the one thing she really wanted to do with her life, she said.
“I never really considered college or anything,” Bongner said. “I always figured I’d follow in my dad’s footsteps.”
She said her family did not take her rejection well, aside from her mother who never wanted her to join the military. However, her father was devastated.
Bongner said she is still troubled by her experience and enters situations carefully – she observes, just like Gage. Her experiences should have changed her opinion of the military, but she said it did not.
VETERANS COME TOGETHER
Both Bongner and Gage found the opportunity to share their experiences and network with other veterans through the Veteran’s Club at Meramec. Gage is currently the club’s president.
Bongner said the Veteran’s Club is not just for veterans – it’s for anyone who supports the military.
The club recruits members by reaching out to students that have served. Veteran’s Club Adviser Michael Burke said these students come from all branches, with many suffering from PTSD and other disabilities.
Bongner said the club helps veterans any way they can. With her connections to TRiO (Meramec’s student support services,) Bongner can direct students to campus counselors. Burke said help can also be found through Meramec’s Access Office.
“[Veterans] fit into a particular category,” Burke said. “The more you fit in, the better off you’re going to be. If you’re going to be successful in the rest of your life, you’re not going to wrap yourself in your old uniform. You don’t want to do that. You want to use that experience to make you a successful college student.”
Burke was in the Army for 27 years. He said he joined the military because his chances of being drafted in the Vietnam War were high, so it was easier to join and pick his job.
He did not expect to stay in the military as long as he did, but he said he loved it. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel before he decided to leave.
Burke said there is an initial influx of students wanting to join the club, but that excitement fades out. Bongner said the club does a lot of volunteer work with the American Legion. Veteran’s Club member Katie Johnson said the Veteran’s Club is not there to just be another club, it is there to help veterans and inform them of the resources, scholarships and available support.
“I feel an immense amount of pride because I know that I’m doing my part to help them out. Whether I’m sounding board, or a support staple in the group — whatever it is, I’m doing my part,” Johnson said. “I also feel an extreme sense of respect toward them because they do what I can’t.”
