DEAR EDITOR:

I am a Los Medanos College graduate of 2018, returning to pursue a second degree in business to better run my company. What led me to seeking education was an opportunity I was given through a program called Vocational Rehabilitation for disabled veterans. After my time in the service, reintegration back into society was a battle, but LMC gave me every opportunity to do just that.

I personally chose the military route because I did not have the opportunity nor the knowledge. I was not aware of the many different resources out there to make it very affordable to go to college.

Seeing the younger generation of our future doing something to better themselves, using their mind and thirst for knowledge to expand their consciousness is inspiring to say the least. What I did not expect to see were military recruiters. To see men of war on campus poaching and looking for the weak to prey on, to fulfill no more than a quota, disturbs my peace. As the world wakes up and we see the influence our military industrial complex leaves on this globe, I urge you to start right here in America and remove those that wish to infect the growth and peace offered on this campus. Military recruiters are not there to help students. They are there to take students from the college, promising them the military will pay for their college later, peddling their promises like used car sales associates.

I am proud of my service, and I love my country. Given the times we are living in, when it feels like there is a war on education, I would like to see a separation between War and Education.