Volunteer to Military Wounded Recognized as Veteran of the Year

Ioana Patringenaru | November 17, 2008

John Will is this year's UCSD Veteran of the Year.

Every year, UC San Diego staff member John Will and about a dozen other volunteers visit soldiers who have been wounded, sometimes critically, and receive care at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center on the UCSD campus.

Will took over organizing the visits almost as soon as he joined the Veterans Association at UCSD. He said he feels the experience is extremely rewarding. Wednesday, Will received another reward when he earned the UCSD Veteran of the Year Award during a ceremony at the Natural Sciences building on campus.

“It’s a humbling experience,” he said. “I’m very honored to represent the veterans of UCSD.”

Will is a Vietnam veteran and a former Navy man. He is also an analyst in the Office of Post Award Financial Services here on campus. “John embodies the ideal of service and commitment,” said Chris Halter, who received the UCSD Veteran of the Year award last year.

Will served for four years in the military, but he said he feels he has learned a lot from his experiences, especially self-discipline and organization. “It certainly broadened my horizons,” he said.

He came to UCSD in late 2000 and soon found out about the campus’ veterans association. Joining would give him the opportunity to raise awareness about veterans’ issues, he said. “Too often, we take things for granted,” he said. “All veterans deserve recognition.” His role, he said, is to gather information and disseminate it. He inquired about veterans’ benefits, told others about what is available—and found out he was eligible.

Will poses with Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and colleagues.

But the trips to the VA Medical Center are perhaps his most demanding task in the association. “So many people in the hospital have given so much more than the rest of us,” he said. Each of the patients has a unique story, Will added. They’re glad to share it and volunteers sometimes have trouble keeping their composure when they hear it. “It can be overwhelming,” Will said.

Meanwhile, Will said he didn’t feel his military service was extraordinary. He joined the Navy in January 1967, when he wasn’t yet in his 20s. He loved the ocean, he said, and wanted to see the world. He got to see quite a bit of Southeast Asia, from Japan, to the Philippines, to Guam and Vietnam.

He was stationed in war-torn Vietnam for three months. He remembers white sandy beaches, which would have been pretty had it not been for the war, he said. Will flew in weather recognizance aircraft, known as Typhoon Trackers. The planes’ mission was to make sure the weather was safe for U.S. ships and planes. Will’s job was to send messages from the planes to the squadron’s home base in Guam.

In 1968, Will received an assignment to serve on the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. He worked in the maintenance department, where technicians repaired everything from jet engines to parachutes. His first job was closing the logbook on an aircraft that had plunged off the Kitty Hawk’s deck, killing five people.

Rear Admiral Christine S. Hunter spoke at Thursday's awards ceremony.

Will worked his way up to petty officer second class, but with the Vietnam War winding down, he took the opportunity to be discharged early in October 1970. After leaving the Navy, he was able to use the GI Bill and grants from the state of Pennsylvania to enroll at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s. He then spent three years in the clergy, but soon realized priesthood was not a good fit for him.

Finally, he landed a job at UCLA and then at The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C., where he spent most of his career. In 2000, he and his partner decided to move to California, lured here by the ocean and the climate. Shortly afterwards, he joined the UCSD Veterans Association. He now is the association’s vice chair.

“While all veterans share a common bond, they also bring a wealth of diversity that makes up our country,” Will said at Wednesday’s ceremony. “I think that diversity makes us strong.”