Former Marine praises diverse group at MCC
By BRETT ROWLAND - browland@nwherald.com
Military veterans are a heterogeneous group – they don’t all look like John Wayne.
“Our veterans are very diverse and not always obvious,” retired Marine Diann Jabusch said during a keynote address as part of Veterans Day observances Wednesday at McHenry County College.
State Rep. Mark Beaubien, R-Wauconda, U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Ill., and several members of the college’s Board of Trustees were on hand for the event, but did not speak.
Jabusch, who serves as the college’s assistant vice president of information technology, spent more than two decades in the military, enlisting in both the Marines and the Illinois Air National Guard.
Jabusch proved her point with the help of a slide-show presentation. John Wayne, she noted, never served in the Marines. However, comedians Drew Carey and Jonathan Winters did.
Relating her own experiences in the military, Jabusch told how when she joined in 1970s, few women were in the service.
“I had to recruit myself,” she said.
Jabusch also spoke of her struggles to get into the Marines, which had a 5-foot height requirement. A half-inch short, Jabusch recalled hanging from doors to stretch her spine in an effort to grow. Eventually allowed to join with a physical waiver, Jabusch worked hard to graduate high school early and make sure that she got the job she wanted in avionics.
“My first night in boot camp was my high school prom,” she said.
Jabusch talked about her time in the Illinois Air National Guard. Her service included avionics repair, driving forklifts, building war readiness kits, programming databases, and managing a barracks with 100 Marines. She was awarded a meritorious promotion, Good Conduct Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal, and was named noncommissioned officer of the year.
“One of the things the military teaches you is that you can do more than you think you can,” Jabusch said.
She also stressed the importance of community college, which helped her after the military.
“Attending community college was a great way to start the rest of my life,” Jabusch said.
She encouraged everyone to spend some time talking with veterans and listening to their stories.
About 200 veterans received financial aid this fall while attending McHenry County College, interim President Kathleen Plinske said. The celebrations Wednesday were meant to honor all those who have served, she said.
The school’s population of veterans and an argument with members of a student peace group prompted MCC student Paul Wheeler to start a new campus group, the Military and Student Veterans Association.
Wheeler, who also spoke Wednesday, further praised the community college.
“The college is great,” he said. “And we’re doing a great job.”
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