LATHROP – Nicholas Vaughn, a junior at Lathrop High School, has been selected for an all-expenses-paid historical tour of Valley Forge and Philadelphia before Veteran’s Day in November.

The JROTC first lieutenant’s trip set for Nov. 3-6 is being paid for by the American Veterans, a non-profit national organization whose mission is to assist the country’s veterans and to sponsor programs that provide services to the country and its citizens, including the families of veterans.

Lt. Col. (ret.) Venjie Gose, Lathrop High JROTC’s instructor, said the person who will be Vaughn’s chaperone for this trip, will be arranged and paid for by American Veterans.

Vaughn is the second JROTC cadet from Lathrop High who has been chosen for this visit to some of the most historical sites on the East Coast. The first one to be sponsored by American Veterans was Cadet Juanita Leon who took the trip last year and is now in her senior year at Lathrop High.

“Every year, I get an invitation from the American Veterans Organization,” Gose said. Finally, last y ear, the JROTC program decided to send one cadet and chose Leon who was then in her junior year.

“Usually, American Veterans wants us to send a junior so they can come back and talk to the rest of the cadets about (the trip) and give them an idea of their experiences,” hopefully motivating them and the other students “to do better so they get selected” for the next round, Gose explained.

The American Veterans let the school JROTC instructors do the selection process as to which student should go.

“We select the best cadet; we look for potential for leadership and just being an overall good student and good citizen,” said Gose, explaining the selection process.

“Every year, there are 300 to 400 students from all over the country (selected for the trip), so American Veterans puts a lot of money into this event,” he added.

 “They have a few schools that they contact every year. Because they are looking for good students, good cadets, once you send them a good one, they keep contacting you every year. I guess we did the right thing by sending one last year,” Gose said.

Lathrop High has an average of 103 students enrolled in the JROTC program.

“When I was at Sierra, our average was around 70,” said Gose who was the JROTC instructor at the Timberwolves campus in Manteca before Sierra ended its cadet program and he was transferred to Lathrop High. The other instructor, MSgt (ret.) Henry Benavides was assigned to Manteca High.

Even though Sierra does not have a JROTC program any longer, students who want to be in the program can still do so; however, they have to be bused to Lathrop High and take the program at that campus under Gose. Currently, there are 26 to 30 Sierra students who are part of the Lathrop High JROTC program.

For his first two years at the Spartan campus, Gose single-handedly ran the JROTC program. In the middle of last year, he was joined by Sgt. (ret.) Brian William.

One of America’s foremost veterans service organizations, AMVETS “has a proud history of assisting veterans and sponsoring numerous programs that serve our country and its citizens,” according to the group’s official website.

The website further states, “The helping hand that AMVETS extends to veterans and their families takes many forms. One of the most visible is our network of trained national service officers (NSOs) accredited by the department of Veterans Affairs. Funded by the AMVETS National Service Foundation, these dedicated men and women can be found in close to 40 states, providing sound advice and prompt action on compensation claims at no charge to the veteran.

“In one recent year alone, AMVETS national service officers processed more than 24,000 claims that resulted in veterans receiving some $400 million in compensation. This commitment to service traces its roots back to 1948, when our NSOs first began helping veterans of World War II to obtain the benefits promised them by the federal government.”

According to the organization’s website, President John F. Kennedy who served in World War II, was a former AMVETS post commander.

For more on the American Veterans organization, visit www.amvets.org.