Veterans Day is a celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good, and one Northern Michigan veteran is incredibly proud to have served her country.
“I’m originally from Boyne City. and when I graduated high school, I joined the military about a year after high school. You know, I was kind of like a lost kid. Didn’t know what to do, couldn’t afford college. So I joined the military. I was 19 when I went in, and then I did four years active duty. I served in Tucson, Arizona, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,” said Jessica Selissen.
Jessica Selissen then served in the Michigan Air National Guard for four more years, and after many years of serving her country, she decided to explore a different endeavor. But she knew it wouldn’t fulfill her unless it related to helping vets.
“I am actually a veteran service officer with Emmet County, Michigan. I essentially I help veterans gain their benefits within the Department of Veterans Affairs. They can be anything between disability and, health care. we also have some pension programs for low income veterans. Realistically, I help them gain any benefit that is allotted to them, through the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Selissen said.
Jessica chose this department after her own personal experience of trying to navigate life after being on active duty.
“I separated, and it was, here’s your giant VA book of benefits and good luck. and you don’t know, you don’t know what to do. And I actually had a, a not so great experience with my first Veteran service officer. and it left a very bad taste in my mouth, unfortunately. So I try to make sure that any Veteran who comes in, you know, they feel comfortable. this process, I’m here to make it easy. It should not be hard,” said Jessica.
This year, Jessica is being honored for dedication to her country and community in the VFW #StillServing campaign as she continues to positively impact the lives of veterans in Northern Michigan.
“I want to be a positive role model, I guess, you know, for other veterans in the community, you know, someone who can you can go to them and they can help you, I want to be that person, that that person that people are comfortable with, that they can tell their stories with, that they can feel like their stories are heard,” Jessica said.
And Jessica says she has one piece of advice for veterans who might be going through a similar experience as her.
“Do not be afraid to ask for help. Whether it’s your neighbor, whether it’s your family, whether it’s, you know, another that you served with. Do not be afraid to ask for help. To those that are, the ones helping, listen, just listen and, try your best to help. And if you can, try your best to find someone who can help,” said Selissen.