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Volume 40, Issue 6. Today is .

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Volume 40, Issue 6
November 19, 2002

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Bed of roses to honor veterans
By Scott A. De Waelsche
For the Mesa Legend

Photo by M.A. Reed/Mesa Legend
Mcc's rose garden located on the north side of the campus is decorated with dozens of various roses. On Veteran's Day, ground was broken in order to begin a five-bed patriotic section dedicated to past and present military veterans.

The Mesa-East Valley Rose Society and MCC Veteran Services honored past and current U.S. military personnel on Nov. 11 with a Veteran’s Day groundbreaking ceremony for the Veterans Rose Bed in the MCC Rose Garden.

The Rose Garden addition will include five rose beds dedicated to the five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces: the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. A terrace adjacent to the rose beds will accommodate 200 people and serve as a venue for future ceremonies and events.

“The roses that will be planted in this garden will all have a patriotic theme to commemorate the service of those who have served, currently serve, and will serve in our nation’s armed forces,” said MCC President’s Office representative Jared Langkilde.

Valerie Vigil, Veteran’s Coordinator with MCC Veteran Services, said that the Rose Society decided to add the veteran memorial to the Rose Garden, which is already one of the largest in the nation.

“This is possibly the largest patriotic rose bed in the country,” said Vigil. “What is going to be nice is, when it is built, it will also be able to hold weddings and other events.”

MCC faculty member and armed forces veteran Meredith Smith explained that the memorial would be meaningful for veterans on campus.

“It means that they are valued because they are part of the educational community,” said Smith. “The college and the president have made that happen.”

Veteran Services staff member Jason Garcia, a former MCC student and Army veteran, said the memorial is a reminder of all the veterans who have come before him.

“When I come out here, I would like to thank the other veterans for allowing me to be here, and to be in the military,” said Garcia.

Armed Services retiree and MCC student, Karsten Hansen, also a member of the Veteran Services staff, agreed.

“Freedom is not free,” he said.

The Rose Society and MCC Veteran Services chose Veterans Day and Memorial Day, two days our nation sets aside to honor the men and women of the armed forces, to memorialize the Veterans Rose Bed. The Rose Society will begin planting the roses in January, but a bigger dedication ceremony is planned for next Memorial Day.

Veterans Day began on Nov. 11, 1919 as Armistice Day, a day to commemorate the cease-fire agreement between the Allied powers and Germany that ended World War I a year earlier. Initially, it recognized the sacrifices made by American soldiers in World War I, but in 1954 the United States renamed it Veterans Day to honor veterans of all U.S. wars.

For Smith, Veterans Day is a chance to remember those he served with.

“It’s pretty heavy for me because I was a young kid,” he said. “On this day I think about those guys that didn’t make it back, so you always have that guilt.”

Vigil said that she has seen a renewed interest in Veterans Day in the wake of recent world events.
“I think people got away from Veterans Day until after last Sept. 11,” said Virgil. “Then people began displaying flags and being more patriotic.”

Vigil added that over 800 veterans are certified through the Veteran Services office, and there are probably 1200 veterans on campus.

Veteran Services provides MCC students who served in the armed forces with a number of benefits, including counseling, academic advisement, and work study opportunities. Smith believes, however, that students benefit most from the access it provides to communication with other veterans regarding readjustment issues.

“The vet is faced with a number of challenges when exiting the military,” Smith said. “Educational atrophy sets in from the years away from school. You need to have a place where veterans can go and talk about what is going on.”