DCTC Military Family Day

Veterans, active duty personnel and their families honored at college event

Veterans from American Legion Challenger Post 521 perform Flag-Folding Ceremony

The DCTC community honored veterans and active duty military personnel along with their families at Military Family Day Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010. Jessica Jackson, a U.S. Army veteran and DCTC student, gave the welcome address and introduced Ronald E. Thomas, Ph.D., DCTC president, who gave a speech recognizing extraordinary service carried out by military personnel in the line of duty.

Led by John Ertel, commander of American Legion Challenger Post 521, veterans from the post performed a Flag-Folding Ceremony. Visitors could inspect a Minnesota National Guard Humvee or challenge a U.S. Marine to a pull-up contest. Recruiters were on hand from the National Guard, the Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy.

John Ertel, Commander, American Legion Challeger Post 521 | Sergeant, U.S. Army CID (ret.)

“We had a great turnout,” said Student Life Director Nicole Meulemans. “Our college does all it can to support veterans and their families through our Veterans Resource Center and the South Metro Region Higher Education Veterans Program, which we host on our Rosemount campus. We appreciate members of the Armed Forces and the service they have shown our country.”

Jessica Jackson, 27, and her husband, Jerome Jackson, 26, both work at the Veterans Resource Center and both are veterans of the U.S. Army. They met during their deployment to Mosul, Iraq, with the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky. A native of Florence, S.C., Jessica was a sergeant and supply specialist. Jerome, a native of Chicago, Ill., was a private first class assigned to human resources.

Jessica Jackson | Child Development student | Former U.S. Army sergeant deployed to Iraq

Jessica enjoys working in the VRC because her job gives her the chance to continue serving even though she’s no longer in the military. “I love meeting new people and hearing their stories,” she said. “My goal for the Veterans Resource Center is to draw as many veterans as we can, which gives me more opportunities to share the knowledge I’ve gained from other sources, especially from Kathy Bachman, the coordinator of the South Metro Region Higher Education Veterans Program.”

Working toward her A.A.S. degree in Child Development, Jessica just started college fall semester 2010. Jerome is pursuing a degree in the Networking Administration program. Their hard work is one of the reasons DCTC was proclaimed a Yellow Ribbon Company as part of the statewide Beyond the Yellow Ribbon campaign.