2968575773During the annual Veterans Day observance on Nov. 11, Edinboro University Fighting Scots Battalion R.O.T.C. Honor Guard fired off a 21-gun salute by the Reeder Hall flagpole in tribute to the veterans that have served the United States.

“Pride in one’s military service is a bond shared by nearly all who have worn the uniform of their country,” said interim President James D. Moran in his Veterans Day address at the Diebold Center for the Performing Arts.

“Veterans Day is a day of remembrance, a day of recognition, a day of honor for those who have served and sacrificed to protect my family and yours,” Moran said.

Moran said that there are currently 23 million living veterans that span the generations from World War I to the present. Just this year alone, there are 70 new freshman cadets in the Fighting Scots Battalion at Edinboro.

According to Captain Jeremy McCrillis, the students in the Battalion have been working on and practicing the traditional flag-folding and 21-gun salute for about a month.

“They did an awesome job,” he said.

“We want to do it right,” said Lt. Col. James Marshall. Employed at Edinboro University since August 2010, Marshall says that the main goal of the R.O.T.C. is academic success.

“[Academics are] first and foremost. But we also want to prepare them for life,” he said. We want to help them find good career options that will motivate them to do their best.

More than over 100 students, as well as current and retired faculty and staff from the university, are also serving or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, according to the university’s website.

The audience at the ceremony was made up of men and women from the “Greatest Generation” – those who lived through the Great Depression and World War II – as well as young adults from the latest generation.

They “represent [our] nation during history’s most recent wars,” Moran said. “Our debt to these heroes can never be repaid, but our gratitude and respect must last forever.”

Kahan Sablo, vice president of student affairs, was also in attendance. Describing past Veterans Day tributes that the university organized, he said, “We’ve been doing this for a long time. Last year, I received the flag [since] President Brown was travelling.”

A moment of silence was held during the ceremony in respect for the veterans who had served and are still serving our country.

“This Veterans Day – 10 years after the 9/11 tragedy – is a significant milestone in [our] lives,” Moran said.

Moran went on to explain that Veterans Day was originally called “Armistice Day.”

In 1919, President Wilson designated a day to celebrate the agreement signed in the Palace of Versailles that signaled the end of World War I – the war “to end all wars.”

“Let us never forget that our soldiers have liberated Buchenwald, halted genocide in Kosovo, and fought to end starvation in Somalia,” said Moran. “Let us not forget their sacrifices for the preservation of freedom at Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, Omaha Beach, [and] Pork Chop Hill.”

Moran credited veterans with perserving quality of life in America.

“Through their blood, their service, their courage, and their sacrifice, our veterans have given us freedom, security to live in the greatest nation on earth.” 

– Taken from The Spectator (Vol. 3, Issue 11) on November 17, 2011

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather