VETERANS IN ACTION
One Veteran WORKING HARD FOR
OTHER VETERANS Improving the Veteran Experience, ONE VOLUNTEER HOUR
AT A TIME
J uliann Desmond is grateful for the opportunity to volunteer at VA Long Beach. Born and raised in Michigan, she was halfway through nursing school when her parents could no longer pay her tuition. Around that time, Juliann attended a Career Day on her campus. There she found out that the military had a program that would pay for school. “I went home and told my parents, ‘The Army will pay for the rest of school—books, tuition, lodging, the whole kit and kaboodle!’ I couldn’t believe it. That was the start of my military career,” she says. Juliann served half active and half reserves, and retired from the military in 1994. She went on to have a fulfilling career as a nurse until 2017, when she retired. By then, she was living in Long Beach and really wanted to give back to the community that gave so much to her all those years ago.
SPRING 2023 35
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