Veterans Appreciation Ceremony
Liston Pennington
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A 21-gun salute followed by Taps could be heard around campus on Monday as the Veterans Appreciation Ceremony came to a close. The silent crowd watched as the Pikeview High School JROTC retreated with the Colors and the representatives of the Mercer County Veterans Council marched out of view. The POW/MIA flag waved in a small breeze after it was hoisted to half-mast on one of the two newly erected flagpoles in front of Marsh Hall.
The Veterans Appreciation Ceremony and the luncheon that followed were scheduled to remember service members nationwide and, in particular, the service of the nearly ninety veterans that are attending classes at
Greg Quick, Interim Vice President for Advancement, began the ceremony with a moment of silence for those soldiers recently lost at
Following Quick, the Pikeview High School JROTC presented the Colors and Megan Kline, a freshman, sang the National Anthem.
As the ceremony moved forward, Dr. Gregory F. Aloia, President of Concord University, summed up the purpose of the new flagpoles, “words cannot express how much gratitude we owe our veterans.”
Aloia went on to ask those in attendance to pray for Joe Marsh, a veteran of World War Two, who was not present because he was recently hospitalized.
Congressman Nick J. Rahall, the key speaker of the ceremony, reflected Aloia’s notion of gratitude, “There is nothing that we can do to ever satisfactorily say thank you, but we can try every day.”
Congressman Rahall continued his praise of veterans, “It is not only this week, but each and every day we should say thank you. Thank you to American veterans…To our veterans of all wars and those with us today, who perhaps do not yet have a normal life, we say thank you.”
“To friends and foes…even though we debate over policy, once a decision is made and once our young men and women are deployed we must support our troops one-hundred percent,” urged Rahall towards the end of his speech.
During his speech, Congressman Rahall was interrupted numerous times by the Marsh Hall bells. The bells sounded the National Anthem and
Congressman Rahall, Dr. Aloia, and Greg Quick stood out of reverence during the National Anthem and encouraged the crowd to join them in singing
Rahall took the bells as an opportunity to thank Marsh for the bells, one of which was dedicated to Marsh’s ship, the U.S.S. Hale, and to declare, “This is truly the most veteran friendly campus. It’s beautiful.”
Congressman Rahall ended by committing himself to an idea brought forward by local Bob McGuire.
Rahall vowed that he would pursue a motion to add a dollar donation option for veterans on tax return forms.
After Rahall finished, George Williams,
“It meant a lot to me…the veterans’ staff here at
George Williams, a Navy and Army veteran, expressed the goal of the new flagpoles and the ceremony, “It’s a way to appreciate men and women in the military. It’s about recognizing them. Especially, those on campus.”
Though the ceremony is over, veteran’s appreciation is a main goal of the University administration. A home football game was dedicated to veterans this past year, a new veterans club has been started on campus, and there is continued projects in the works. The projects include a potential waiver for veterans of the SAT/ACT requirement to take entry level classes, more financial aid, and the possibility of a veterans lounge on campus.
Jennifer Wagner, a veteran of the USMC and president of the new veterans club, described her experience, “The door is always open in the Veterans office.”
Veterans Day is being held nationwide today.
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