Veterans Week honors those who have served their country

As part of Veterans Week, residents attended Memorial Union's dedication.

By Katy Bergen

Published Nov. 13, 2008

Perhaps Sgt. Matt Eversmann put it best. Eversmann, who inspired Josh Hartnett's role in the film Black Hawk Down, spoke to a crowded Conservation Auditorium about his experiences in Somalia, but first praised veterans and his fellow war- time heroes. Eversmann, who came to MU for the first-ever Veterans Week, stressed it's the "ordinary" people who truly make a difference.

"They don't wear S's on their chest," Eversmann said. "They don't wear capes. They don't change in phone booths. But they are committed to doing the right thing always."

Citizens, both military and non-military, came out this week to celebrate those who have committed themselves to serving their country.

A former member of the Air Force Honor Guard re-donned a uniform to address his city. A professor spoke, as a teacher and a veteran, to a university he loves. A local man honored his great-uncle's memory. Two students continued to strive for programming to ease incoming veterans' transitions to campus.

Veterans might be "ordinary" people. But it was these ordinary people who made the first-ever Veterans Week at MU a success.

Reflecting on those who served

Every day Tery Donelson asks his a daughter a question.

"What have you done for your country today?"

At the MU Air Force ROTC Detachment 440's 23rd annual Veteran's Ceremony, Donelson encouraged the crowd to ask themselves the same question. Donelson, assistant vice president for Enrollment Management at Columbia College, served in the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard and as a space and missile officer in various locations.

Donelson spoke after ROTC cadets and midshipmen marched in a parade from the Columns to the Boone County Courthouse. The Joint ROTC Color Guard, the Boone County Fire District Pipe and Drum Band and the Railsplitters also participated in the parade.

"He or she is so much more that brute strength. A warrior displays courage, virtue, and determination," Donelson said about the 24 million living veterans in America, three-fourths of whom have served in conflict or war.

Donelson garnered chuckles from the crowd when he suggested veteran speakers don't fear public speaking itself but have a unique "fear that a uniform won't fit."

The local Veterans of Foreign Wars sounded off a 21-gun salute after Donelson's words. The salute was scheduled to occur at 11:11 to mark the 11th minute of the 11th hour of the 11th day of November, when the treaty that ended World War I was signed. The day was originally known as Armistice Day, though the holiday became Veterans Day after World War II.

A power failure delayed the start of the Memorial Union dedication. Jenny Wade, a first-year graduate student and president of the Student Union Programming Board, attempted to speak above the wind.

"The weather held but our power did not," she said jokingly, before she explained SUPB's mission to bring back the Veterans Day wreath dedication, which honors fallen MU students. Eighty-two years ago, Wade said, Memorial Tower was dedicated to fallen WWI soldiers. Later, 338 names of fallen WWII soldiers were inscribed in the foyer.

MU education professor Alex Waigandt spoke to the Memorial Union crowd. Waigandt earned three Purple Hearts in the Marine Corps in the Vietnam War.

"Some people view soldiers as people desiring war. My view is that no one hates war more than the warriors," Waigant said. "The warriors I came across had a saying, 'All gave some and some gave all.'"

Waigandt told the crowd he felt inspired by the tower upon returning to campus in 1974, calling Memorial Union the "most picturesque, beautiful place on campus."

Columbia resident Jim Joy quietly observed the ceremony, wearing a baseball hat saying "Vietnam Veteran."

"I saw the announcement and decided to hear what they had to say," said Joy, who served in the Marine Corps from 1963 to 1966.

The SUPB also sponsored a supply drive this week for the 442nd Long Range Surveillance unit. Tigers 4 Troops adopted an overseas Missouri unit every year since 2006.

"We're just looking for things to say, 'Hey, people are thinking about you,'" said Joe Hayes, assistant director of the Missouri Student Unions.

On Tuesday afternoon an older man walked into the Craft Studio. He took off his coat, laid down his briefcase and politely asked if he was in the right place to make cards for the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital. When he was told it was, he set to work, leaning over his construction paper project.

Ralph Kreigh has a special reason he celebrates Veterans Day each year. His great-uncle, Oren Clyde Pace, was injured the night before the original Armistice Day. His uncle later died from the wounds he received, earning a Silver Star for his service. His family suspects he was the last man from Boone County to die as a result of World War I.

Pace's tombstone is in Ashland. His tombstone reads, "Here lies an intrepid soldier, unafraid to meet his God."

The announcement of a new veterans resource center this week coincided with the veterans celebration. The Student and Veterans Service Office will open by December and serve as a one-stop shop to address any veteran's issue in returning to a college campus.

The office is just part of an influx of support this year for veterans' issues. This August, the Returning Heroes Act ensured that Missouri soldiers who served in combat since 9/11 will have a $50 cap on credit hours.

Senior Anne Case-Halferty and second-year graduate student Robert Carroll could not be more excited by this "momentum" concerning veterans' issues. Case-Halferty and Carroll are still waiting for approval from administrators for a class addressing issues about a veteran's transition back to campus.

Case-Halferty and Carroll hope to model their class after a Student Success Center class currently offered to freshmen. The proposed syllabus for this class covers basic skills veterans might have missed or need to brush up on.

"This is to give them the tools to navigate the university and the campus," Carroll said, "that first semester can be troublesome."

Veterans have expressed a need for help with skills such as learning to write a research paper, managing money or even creating a rŽsumŽ. For example, many veterans don't know how to convey the leadership roles and responsibilities they learned while serving in a typically education-oriented rŽsumŽ.

Many professors who are also veterans have expressed interest in teaching the class. It is possible the class will be open to the family members and spouses of veterans who play an active role in a veteran's integration on campus. Both Carroll and Case-Halferty described the balancing act of so many of these veterans. Many are attempting to raise a family, maintain a job and finish their education at the same time.

Case-Halferty, whose husband is currently serving in Iraq, stressed veterans want to integrate fully with their peers. Many believe their classmates have just as much to offer them as they do to their classmates.

"The goal is not to take veterans out of class and throw them together," Case-Halferty said. "This class is not a crutch but a way to streamline a process."

Eversmann stressed in his lecture the values that veterans embody would benefit those that could potentially share a class with a veteran. Eversmann shared something he has heard often: "May you live in interesting times."

While Eversmann confessed he wasn't sure whether the saying was a curse or a blessing, he found that three values helped his comrades get though their own "interesting" times: selfless service, courage and commitment.

"Courage to me is just doing your job when you're scared," Eversmann said. "There are people out there doing it right now."