Eminem blasted in the hallway outside the multipurpose
room of the Veteran’s Association Hospital. The room
wasn’t full of dancing teenagers.
They were replaced by elderly veterans.
The dance Thursday night was a Valentine’s Day celebration
for veterans from the hospital and a chance for UCLA’s Air
Force Reserve Officer Training Corps to implement the national
Valentine’s for Vets event.
The vets were given plenty of attention and recognition from the
AFROTC, as the UCLA students danced and talked the night away with
the patients.
“I don’t know about the other vets, but … I
appreciate this very much,” Gerald Gross said during the
event.
The veteran patients remain in the hospital for a variety of
reasons, and many are elderly.
There are around 600 veterans in the hospital, and 100 went to
the dance Thursday night.
“They’re looking forward to it,” said Carrie
Brandlin, leisure services supervisor for the Veteran’s
Association Hospital, before the dance.
Valentine’s for Vets week was officially established in
1978, said Susan Gandy, chief of Community Relations for Public
Affairs at the Randolph Air Force Base.
“The purpose is to recognize veterans’ sacrifices
for this country, increase community awareness of the medical
centers’ programs, and to get the community to volunteer at
the hospitals,” she said.
Participation is not limited to the AFROTC but includes the
Army, Navy and the Marines as well.
Different bases are given information about the recognition week
and coordinate a local event as they choose.
“The direction came from Air Education and Training
Command, and each school that has AFROTC … figures out how they
want to implement it at their university,” said Captain
Timothy Reynolds, the Unit Admissions Officer for AFROTC at
UCLA.
The university’s AFROTC was not alone in their service to
the veterans. Children from Sierra Elementary and Tiera Bonita
North Elementary, two schools from Lancaster, made
Valentine’s Day cards for the patients.
“They’ve been making (cards) for the last three
weeks,” said Frank Bigelow, fourth-year English literature
student and event coordinator.
Bigelow expected more than 200 Valentine cards to come in from
the elementary schools.
Both elementary schools had the lower grades participate in the
event by making the cards and explaining the role of a veteran.
“Most of the teachers, in the course of talking about
Valentine’s Day, … tied (the event) into the
President’s Day and the war that’s going on,”
said Michelle Bowers, principal of Tiera Bonita North
Elementary.
At Sierra Elementary, each class had a specific greeting to
write on the cards they made, said Connie Gaines, secretary for the
principal’s office.
Gaines saw the Valentine’s cards come into the office, and
get taken out by an AFROTC member to the VA Hospital.
“When the man who picked up the cards saw them, his face
lit up,” she said.
The cards were taken from the schools and handed out to each
veteran at the entrance of the multipurpose room where the dance
was held.
The students’ Valentine cards made an impact on the
veterans, and some continued to hold onto them long after coming
through the entrance.
“Reminds me of the things my daughter used to make me when
she was a little kid,” said Steve Rynerson, a veteran at the
event.
For more information,
go to www.sscnet.ucla.edu/afrotc.