Page 7 - Access Magazine 2023

U "Crank" the Dog
AARON SCHLUETER
VALOR TENACITY
lead a Marine TO HIS DEGREE
BY DOUGLAS HOAGLAND
On a hot August day in 2010, Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron Schlueter guided a 20-ton heavily armored vehicle across the desert in Afghanistan. His mis- sion: search out improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that could maim and kill. Three other Marines, an Afghani soldier, and a bomb-sniffing Labrador Retriever named Crank rode with him.
In an instant, everything went black and Schlueter lost consciousness after the vehicle hit an IED. He woke up still in the driver’s seat with smoke everywhere and sensors on the dashboard “screaming,” as he puts it. The vehicle was upright, but its tires had been blown off.
The traumatic brain injury Schlueter suffered that day would present big challenges when he finally found his way to the Veterans Education Program. But he persevered and graduated from Fresno State, the first person in his family to earn a university degree. “I don’t know where my destiny lies, but I never expected to make it this far, to be honest,” Schlueter says.
Raised in Fresno, he enlisted in the Marines after graduating from high school. Deployed to Afghanistan during the fight against the Taliban, Schlueter drove a Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle to clear pathways so infantry and supply trucks could
safely pass. The job was dangerous, and ex- plosions were frequent. Marines died. “You just got used to the danger,” Schlueter says. “I guess I worried about it once I got back” – a foreshadowing of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) he eventually developed. He was hospitalized for a month after the explo- sion and then returned to duty, completing his deployment three months later without further injury.
Back in the United States – and out of the Marines – Schlueter worked briefly as a correctional officer in a West Virginia prison before returning to Fresno where his life was unsettled. He was homeless for a time and experienced other difficulties. While attend- ing a Veterans Administration program, he heard about the Veterans Education Program. “I was at Fresno State the next day to sign up. I was like, I need to do something with myself or it’s just going to be really bad for me.”
He soon began classes in the program but says: “I just didn’t know how to be a student.” PTSD made it difficult to concentrate and to read without headaches, and he experienced anxiety in the classroom.
“But going to school was a form of therapy,” he says.
Brandon Daher, Schlueter’s English instruc- tor in the Veterans Education Program, was especially helpful. “He just gave me chance after chance after chance.”
After completing the program, Schlueter enrolled in Fresno State as a recreational therapy major, but he still faced problems. He found help, once again, from the Veterans Education Program. Program coordinator Nick Carbajal tutored and advised Schlueter until the program found a tutor who could meet with him on evenings and weekends. “I watched Aaron grow to be more self-sufficient and determined to work through challenges and exceed his potential,” Carbajal says.
Schlueter, 32, appreciates the support he received. “I was honored to have the help. It took a while, but I got in the habit of doing all my class stuff, and I’ve done pretty well for myself.” His final graduation requirement was completing an internship, and he did that at a traumatic brain injury center in Ba- kersfield. Schlueter helped patients improve their independence and functioning through therapy and recreation. Because of his injury, he says, he could relate to the patients.
Next, he plans to earn a master’s degree in social work from Fresno State and begin a career as a social worker. Schlueter says his motivation is simple: “I just want to help people.”
“
I am so proud of him.
He has traveled some roads of adversity and has prevailed. He deserves a degree.”
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