The College held a Veterans Day Ceremony Tuesday that concluded a 24 hour vigil in remembrance of prisoners of battle and people lacking in motion. The ceremony opened at 4 p.m. as the warmth of the day died down, on the steps on the North aspect of the Rotunda.
Whereas Veterans Day gained’t happen till Nov. 11, the College’s Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps moved the occasion to an earlier date to offer area to subsequent week’s one-year anniversary of the Nov. 13 taking pictures on Grounds.
ROTC cadets and midshipmen — these within the Navy and Marine Corps applications — stood in attendance alongside veteran graduates of the College and school of the ROTC choices.
ROTC models led the occasion, presenting the opening remarks, invocation and the POW/MIA presentation. Brig. Gen. Houston R. Cantwell, a distinguished graduate of the College’s Air Drive ROTC program, was the visitor speaker.
Cantwell has commanded at a number of ranges within the armed forces, together with for fight models in Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan and Creech Air Drive Base, labored within the Pentagon and most just lately served because the Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Group Alliance Floor Surveillance Drive.
Cantwell acknowledged the sacrifice of veterans and their dedication to defending American values, and suggested the cadets within the viewers to be ready for surprising turns of their future, significantly regarding the function of expertise within the armed forces. Encouraging flexibility and creativity, he mentioned many future alternatives within the army don’t even exist but.
“Expertise will proceed to advance at a quicker and quicker fee,” Cantwell mentioned. “You cadets can be tasked with synthesizing synthetic intelligence into command and management and army technique improvement. And if I had been to guess, you’ll be requested to implement applied sciences we haven’t even heard of but.”
Cantwell additionally expressed gratitude for the College’s assist of the ROTC applications and counseled the shared values between the College and the armed drive, particularly the College’s 2030 plan to be one of the best public college by the 12 months 2030.
“President [Jim] Ryan’s dedication to be nice and good resonates with me and runs parallel to army values,” Cantwell mentioned. “I see this as a Cavalier dedication to excellence with a deliberate nod to service and integrity, similar to our Air Drive core values. Cadets, my recommendation — be nice and good, and also you’re off to an excellent begin.”
Members of the College’s Scholar Veterans of America chapter had been additionally current on the occasion. Ashley Vanegas, a military veteran and a fourth-year School pupil, mentioned the occasion reminded her of these she had misplaced in her eight years of service.
“To return to this occasion, it helps put all the pieces into perspective, just like the individuals who got here earlier than me,” Vanegas mentioned. “For years, they put their life on the road for all Individuals to assist defend their freedom and to offer them peace and safety whereas they’re right here within the U.S.”
After the presentation of colours and the Nationwide Anthem, Cadet Samantha Boyles supplied the welcome deal with.
“At present we gathered to honor all these servicemen and girls who’ve gone earlier than us and have devoted their lives to the preservation of freedom in our democracy,” Boyles mentioned. “It’s noteworthy that at present can be Election Day, and we will rejoice our present voice as residents of this nice nation and people who defend that very same proper.”
After Boyles’ welcome, the Joint Honor Guard introduced the POW/MIA desk, a spherical desk with empty chairs positioned on the entrance of the ceremony in honor of those that had been unable to attend as a result of they’re prisoners of battle or lacking in motion.
The desk was lined in a white material to represent the purity of these being honored when answering the decision to serve. On prime of the desk was a single pink rose, a yellow ribbon, a slice of lemon, a pinch of salt and a lit candle, every representing these captured in international lands.
This symbolic memorial is widespread at army occasions and might usually be discovered arrange in the identical means in base eating halls or on US Navy ships abroad, in response to Toy Andrews, affiliate professor of Naval Science with the ROTC Naval Unit.
“Whereas I used to be in Iraq, at one of many main eating amenities there was [an empty table] over there and everyone strolling by it, you cease and also you simply give it a nod,” Andrews mentioned. “You acknowledge it.”
The occasion closed with the folding of the flag, a 21-gun salute and the taking part in of Faucets, a bugle music that’s usually performed at army funerals. Andrews mentioned that a part of the ceremony is usually significantly troublesome for veterans in attendance.
“It’s usually one of many hardest components of the ceremony each time, particularly when you’ve had anyone that’s been by means of battle, any of these issues, to listen to Faucets reside,” Andrews mentioned. “It’s robust. It’s a choker.”
