Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs honors DePaul law student as ‘Veteran of the Month' for July

CHICAGO –The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs (IDVA) has honored Daniel Sylvester, a DePaul University law student and U.S. Army veteran, at its July 2012 “Veteran of the Month.”

Sylvester was honored during a ceremony Monday evening at the law offices of Holland & Knight in Chicago. The Illinois Veteran of the Month award is a distinction bestowed upon military veterans who continue to serve their communities after leaving the military.
“Daniel Sylvester epitomizes the fact that veterans continue to serve after taking off the uniform,” said IDVA Director Erica Borggren. “He has made a deep impact on Illinois veterans through his work at DePaul University College of Law, consistently advocating on their behalf.” 

Sylvester served on active duty as an officer in the Army from 1988 to 1999, including humanitarian operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1993-1994), and then as part of the Dayton Peace Accords Implementation Forces (1995-1996).

Sylvester’s personal and professional achievements include:

• For his military service, Sylvester was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal; Joint Service Commendation Medal; Army Commendation Medal (3rd award); Joint Service Achievement Medal; the Army Achievement Medal (2nd award); Joint Meritorious Unit Award (2nd award); National Defense Service  Medal; NATO medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Armed Forces Reserved Medal; Armed Forces Service Medal (2nd award); Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon (2nd award); and, Parachutist Badge.

• On the home front, Sylvester currently is a Juris Doctor candidate at the DePaul University College of Law and is a lifetime member of the VFW.

• In the veteran community, Sylvester:

Worked with votevet.org and the Truman National Security Project to lobby Congress on veteran issues and national security;

Founded the Veteran’s Assistance Service Organization (VASO) at DePaul’s law school where he organized two “Hobbies for Heroes” events to provide crafts for veterans at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago; a “Wool for Warriors” drive to provide wool socks for homeless veterans in Chicago; and, “Veteran’s Week” at the College of Law where law students and guest speakers discussed the various issues affecting today’s veterans.

Currently is working with the DePaul University officials to add a Veteran’s Legal Clinic to DePaul’s extensive list of pro bono clinics