Carrying a folded American flag in memory of the soldiers who never made it back for Veterans Day, a decorated sergeant from the National Guard marched into the first-ever Veterans Day Memorial Service at Penn yesterday.
With the United States at war, Veterans Day took on added symbolism across the nation, though yesterday's event drew few undergraduates.
About 50 veterans, professors and local community members gathered in Houston Hall for a reception featuring speakers and a film on Navajo code talkers, soon to be the focus of a major motion picture, who helped defeat the Japanese during World War II. Although many students were studying in a lounge next door, few, if any, attended the reception.
Despite the lack of student involvement, there was no shortage of veterans at yesterday's event, ready to share their patriotic spirit.
"Because of New York, people remember those who gave their lives to serve in the country," said Michael White, a Pennsylvania firefighter who responded to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 and was a submarine sailor in the early 1980s.
And Steve Garlanger, a Vietnam War veteran, added, "It's times like these that people begin to appreciate the veterans, the military, what they did and what they have to do."
Members of the Penn Veterans Advisory Group, founded in August 2000, sponsored the reception, which highlighted Navajo code talkers in honor of Native American History Month.
"This is the First Annual Veterans Day Reception to recognize and honor veterans in the military, but particularly Penn vets," said Valerie Hayes, executive director of Penn's Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Programs. "And to celebrate Native American History Month, recognizing Native Americans in the military."
The Veterans Advisory Group hopes to expand programming to celebrate Asians in the military, as well.
In addition, the group plans to sponsor a larger POW-MIA remembrance ceremony on College Green next September.
"It is nice to know that your employer cares about your service to the United States," said Gene Janda, a Vietnam War veteran. "I saw a lot of horrors and I guess I would say now that I was proud I did serve."
