A Salute to Our Hometown Heroes
Among the leaders and best at the University of Michigan-Flint are our veterans and active military personnel. These individuals are our students, faculty, staff, and alumni, who have a shared experience of service to the United States of America through one of the branches of the armed services. Their important roles in the military offer important lessons that enriches our campus community.
“At the University of Michigan-Flint, we are proud of the many veterans and active military personnel who are part of our campus as learners, scholars, employees, and alumni. We honor their commitment to selfless service to this country with our gratitude and respect.”
– Chancellor Deba Dutta
Join us for UM-Flint’s 22nd Annual Veterans Day Remembrance Ceremony
Thursday, November 10
Harding Mott University Center
Breakfast at 9 a.m. Program begins at 10 a.m.
Veterans Day gives us the opportunity to celebrate and honor the bravery and sacrifices of all our U.S. Veterans.
Student Veterans Resource Center
At UM-Flint, we support veterans with their educational goals. The Student Veterans Resource Center is a one-stop home for veterans, providing them with information on admissions, financial aid, scholarships, and services that make an important difference.
A Tribute to Veterans
The University Chorale performs a musical tribute in honor of all veterans. Watch Now
Stories of Patriotic Service
Listed here are the stories of our UM-Flint veterans and active military personnel. As you read about them, join us in a salute to their valor and sacrifice to this country.
Carol Chaney
Branch: US Army
What motivated you to join the military?
My younger brother, Joe, was draftable. I thought if I volunteered to go to Vietnam, he would not be sent there.
What was your primary job after training?
98B – Cryptanalyst
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
Washington DC area at the NSA
Did you receive any honors or citations during your service?
Many awards but A Freedom Foundation Medal for an essay on “The Price of Freedom” is one of my favorites.
How did your military experience affect your life today?
Lessons learned include: Never give up; Patriotism is to the country, not the individual; and Leaders set the example.
Rick Dyksterhouse
Branch: US Navy
What motivated you to join the military?
My life lacked direction and purpose. I went and took some tests to get the recruiter off my back but when they came back and offered me the Religious Program Specialist opportunity, I knew that is what God wanted me to do with my life.
What was your primary job after training?
Religious Program Specialist / Command Master Chief
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Japan, Hawaii, DC, Rhode Island, various ships at sea and deployments.
Did you receive any honors or citations during your service?
Awarded the Del Black Deckplate Leadership Award (for command senior enlisted) and other multiple personal and campaign awards.
How did your military experience affect your life today?
Working alongside some of America’s finest men and women pushed me to be my best, showed what sacrificial leadership should be like, and made me proud to be able to serve.
MARCUS GARVIN
Branch: US Army
What motivated you to join the military?
Watching the initial invasion of Iraq on the news
What was your primary job after training?
Infantry
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
Iraq – Ramadi, Fallujah, Habbaniyah
Did you receive any honors or citations during your service?
Joint Service Commendation, Army Commendation, Combat Infantry Badge, Valorous Unit Award, Iraq Campaign Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Commendation Medal for Valor
How did your military experience affect your life today?
My military experience allowed me to grow into a man that no other opportunity or collection of random events on earth would have produced. The ability of my fellow veterans to persevere, overcome, and endure is ten-fold what you will find in any other sampling of cultural groups. Just by my having been present long enough to witness their determination, I have found an infinite number of reasons to continue pressing on. Military Service has granted me the privilege to witness firsthand strength, courage, character, and integrity through a lens that is simply not available anywhere else. I am lucky enough to have been allowed the experience of being led by the types of men that painlessly left in their wake enduring examples of fortitude and degrees of heroism typically reserved for works of fiction. I am here today, in more ways than one, because of their valor. But it is because of their examples that I will still be here tomorrow.
Gregory M. Havrilcsak
Branch: US Navy
What motivated you to join the military?
A tradition of service in my family that dates back to the Revolutionary War
What was your primary job after training?
Communications: Signalman
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
Aboard the USS Independence, CVA 62 with the United States Sixth Fleet
Did you receive any honors or citations during your service?
National Defense Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation; Admiral Flatley memorial Award for Carrier Air Safety
How did your military experience affect your life today?
It gave me the discipline needed to succeed in my chosen field.
Cheyenne Klaus
Branch: US Air Force
What motivated you to join the military?
I wanted to travel and I wanted to be able to go to college.
What was your primary job after training?
Security Forces
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
Germany
How did your military experience affect your life today?
It taught me how I want to treat and be treated by other people.
John McMahon, Jr.
Branch: US Air Force
What motivated you to join the military?
My uncle once wrote me, “here I am, serving in the US Army, someday, it will be your turn to do the same.” I guess that notion of service was ingrained on me very early in my impressionable days and pushed me into wanting to be more than I was at the time.
What was your primary job after training?
My first job when I enlisted was logistics, after commissioning, public affairs and cyber support.
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
Selfridge Air National Guard Base as a reservist and air guardsman
Did you receive any honors or citations during your service?
USAF Meritorious Service Medal (X3), USAF Commendation Medal (X3), USAF Achievement Medal, Expeditionary Forces Medal with combat border, Expeditionary GWOT
How did your military experience affect your life today?
It made me tougher, smarter, stronger, more accepting and more compassionate. It drives my desire to advance my knowledge as evidenced by my return to school for my graduate degree after retirement.
Andrew Ornelas
Branch: US Army
What motivated you to join the military?
To serve my country like my dad did and to protect our Great Country.
What was your primary job after training?
Infantry Officer and Military Intelligence Officer
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
All over country and world, I served for 25 years, and 5 Deployments (Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and two tours in Afghanistan.
Did you receive any honors or citations during your service?
2 Bronze Stars, Combat Infantryman Badge, Combat Action Badge and Airborne Wings
How did your military experience affect your life today?
I still live the Army Values as a Veteran and it guides my life and goals.
Daniel Salazar
Branch: US Air Force
What motivated you to join the military?
My grandparents had served and I wanted to follow in their footsteps.
What was your primary job after training?
Civil Engineer
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
I’ve served in many locations from Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, Beale AFB California, multiple tours overseas, one tour in the middle east and a tour at Guantanamo Bay Cuba
Did you receive any honors or citations during your service?
Two Meritorious Service Medals, Three Air Force Achievement Medals, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and silver oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
How did your military experience affect your life today?
From the very beginning it molded me into the person I am today. I’ve watched and learned from some the greatest men and women to ever serve. To start, my grandparents served in WWII and laid the foundation for our family. It was through their sacrifices and my mothers sacrifice to instill in us core values that we in the services use as our backbone and foundation today. Honor, Integrity, Service before self and Excellence in all we do. The relationships I’ve been fortunate enough to share through the years have helped guide me and keep my morale compass and help build me into the leader and follower I am today. You can’t have leadership without followership. Many men and women have sacrificed to invest their experiences in me and in all of us who serve. It truly is an band of brothers and sisters. There’s no doubt you will never find another culture and or environment like this in world. To wear the cloth or uniform as they say is a true honor.
Paul Matthew Skinner Jr.
Branch: US Navy
What motivated you to join the military?
I wanted to have experiences in life outside of my hometown. The G.I. Bill was also a huge motivator.
What was your primary job after training?
N14O Submarine Nuclear Propulsion Plant Operator – Electrical
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
I was stationed aboard the USS San Juan (SSN 751) in Groton, CT.
Did you receive any honors or citations during your service?
Good Conduct Medal (2); Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon (2); National Defense Service Medal (1); Navy “E” Ribbon (1); Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (1); Global War on Terrorism Service Medal (1); Navy Arctic Service Ribbon (1); Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (4)
How did your military experience affect your life today?
My military experience gave me a greater sense of responsibility and provided me with the discipline necessary to pursue my goals. It also put into perspective that financial gain past a certain point is nothing in comparison to quality time with friends and family.
Stevens Wandmacher
Branch: US Navy
What motivated you to join the military?
To start a new chapter of my life
What was your primary job after training?
Driving ships
Where did you serve the majority of time in service?
USS Patterson FF 1061
How did your military experience affect your life today?
I gained a great appreciation of the variety of Americans