Dr. Scott Moore, dean of the Division of Continuing and Global Education, which operates the Fresno State Veterans Education Program, was a guardian on a recent Honor Flight for Navy veteran Joseph “Jay” Ventress. They were paired because they share a connection to Fresno State.
Navy veteran Joseph “Jay” Ventress now looks back on his Vietnam War service — including two tours on the aircraft carrier USS Constellation as a baker and cook — differently than he has in the past.
His change of perspective came from his recent participation as one of 70 honored veterans on the 30th Central Valley Honor Flight, a three-day trip to Washington, D.C., to visit war memorials and military sites with other veterans.
Many veterans come home from wartime with survivor’s guilt. Ventress talked about how bad he felt that some soldiers didn’t make it home from Vietnam while his own wartime duties consisted of “flipping donuts,” in his words. But with this trip, Ventress gained a broader appreciation of everyone’s part in the military mission.
“They told us we all signed a piece of paper that said that we were willing to go and do whatever they asked us to do. We’re sending you over here and we’re sending you over there. You flip donuts, and you run for your life. They could have swapped us around, and I could have been over there, and he could have been in the donut shop. But we both signed a piece of paper that said we were willing to do whatever they asked us to do, and that’s what it was.”
Ventress and his wife, Joy, learned about Central Valley Honor Flight four years ago. Joy looked into the application process and got Ventress on the waiting list. He found out in August that he had been approved for the October trip.
Each veteran on an Honor Flight trip is paired with a guardian. Ventress and his guardian, Dr. Scott Moore, were paired because they share a connection to Fresno State.
Moore is the dean of the Division of Continuing and Global Education, which operates the Fresno State Veterans Education Program, helping prepare veterans to become Fresno State students. Ventress attended Fresno State in the 1970s, competing as a bull rider with the Fresno rodeo team. He also met Joy, his wife of 46 years and the mother of their two sons and two daughters, while he was a Fresno State student.
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