Long Beach : Veterans May Gain Points on City’s Civil Service Exams

Men and women who served in the military during the last few years of the Vietnam War may soon get a boost when they apply for city jobs.

The City Charter now gives preference points on civil service exams to those who served in Vietnam between Oct. 5, 1964, and July 1, 1973. The City Council on Tuesday conditionally approved changing the closing date to May 7, 1975. That date was established by President Gerald Ford as the last day of the Vietnam era.

War-era veterans, including those who did not serve in the war zone, receive up to 10 additional points on the exams they take to qualify for positions on the city staff.

The issue surfaced this fall after Mary Ann Epperson, a former U.S. Army mechanic, was denied the extra points on the exam she took to get a job with the Long Beach Police Department. Epperson served in Germany in 1975.

“They ignored two years of veterans for the same war,” she said. “This date is when the federal government said it ended. Long Beach should say the same.”