Moraine Park Technical College and Marian University student veteran organizations will hold their third annual 22 No More ruck march/walk for veterans on Saturday, April 20. This event is intended to raise awareness of the 20-22 suicides committed by veterans every day and form a strong community around those who have served or currently serving. The event begins at 9:00 a.m. with registration in the B parking lot of MPTC’s Fond du Lac campus, located off Campus Drive across from the VUE housing, followed by a 2.2 mile walk around the Fond du Lac Soccer Complex at 10 a.m. The walk ends with an opportunity to meet with area veteran resource providers, National Guard, and ROTC service members and enjoy a free lunch provided by the student veteran groups of both college.

A backpack is not required to participate, but everyone who attends is encouraged to honor a service member by carrying a photo of them during the walk. The first 100 individuals who register and take part in the event will receive a free water bottle or small nylon backpack while supplies last and “22 No More” t-shirts from last year’s event will be available for a small donation.

The event is free, but donations are encouraged, with proceeds going to support the Student Veteran Organizations of both colleges and Salute the Troops. To pre-register, please click here and for more information on the 22 No More ruck march/walk please contact Steve Pepper, Student Veteran Specialist for Moraine Park Technical College at 920-924-3489 or Maranda Abitz, Coordinator of Veteran Services at Marian University, at 920-923-8641.

Join us on Friday, March 29, 2019 at 11:30 am in the Moraine Park Technical College cafeteria as we hear firsthand from several Fond du Lac Hmong community members as they talk about their service during the Vietnam War and, the struggles they face to be accepted as veterans, as well as the effects it has had on their families.

America hasn’t always been thankful for Hmong veterans who risked their lives in secrecy in Laos during the Vietnam War. These veterans, trained by the CIA, played a critical role during the Vietnam War, and Wisconsin is home to the third largest concentration of Hmong in the U.S. after California and Minnesota and almost 50,000 Hmong were living in Wisconsin during the 2010 Census.

March 29th is also significant because it is Vietnam Veterans Day. A national day of recognition when we honor the nine million American men and women who served on active duty from November 1st, 1955, to May 7th, 1975 during the Vietnam war and solemnly remember the more than 58,000 whose names are etched into the Vietnam Memorial’s polished black granite—constant reminders of the price of freedom.

For additional information contact Steve Pepper, Moraine Park Technical College’s Student Veteran Specialist at spepper1@morainepark.edu or 920-924-3489.

                                                 POW/MIA Recognition Day, September 21, 2018

National POW/MIA (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action) Recognition Day is September 21 (annually the third Friday in September) and I thought this would be a great opportunity to provide some of the history on the flag you may have seen featuring a silhouette of an individual before a guard tower and barbed wire in white on a black field with the words “You Are Not Forgotten”.

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This my third and final installment of a blog series introducing military service and veterans to educators and administrators in higher education. In Part One, I discussed the demographics and composition of the veteran community, addressing who veterans are and what they ‘look like’ upon transitioning out.

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Graduating veterans from Moraine Park Technical College had an opportunity to participate in the second annual Hail & Farewell ceremony on May 10 2018.

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The public will have an opportunity on Thursday, March 29 to learn about the Vietnam War from those who served. Moraine Park Technical College and Marian University will host two educational presentations put on by the Vietnam Veterans Association, Chapter 351 of Appleton.

The presentations are free and consist of a panel discussion with several Vietnam veterans who will focus on the history, politics, and legacies that were part of the Vietnam experience, as well as their personal recollections. The event will also include an interactive 80-foot traveling display of artifacts, equipment, and memorabilia.
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So why are there 21 military backpacks hanging in the hallway at Moraine Park’s Fond du lac campus?

Staff, faculty and students have been asking that question for the last few weeks. 
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In part one we talked about the demographics and the composition of the veteran community, in part two we discuss the military structure.
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Moraine Park Technical College has proclaimed the 2016-17 academic year as the “Year of the Student Veteran” and to help better understand veterans, the college will have a series of blog entries to address various questions people may have. Much of the information was taken from the book by Michigan State University’s School of Journalism, “100 Questions & Answers about Veterans” and seems fitting with Veterans Day fresh in mind.

Part one talks about the demographics and makeup of the veteran community.
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