photo by Ty Smith
Dusquesne University ROTC and color guard students Brandon Smith, Jesse Martin, Angus Richardson and Jessica Shiffert present the colors in Village Park on Tuesday Nov. 11 as a part of the Veterans Day Ceremony.
Point Park’s veterans were recognized last week on campus in Village Park on Nov. 11.
Veterans Day is a national holiday in which U.S. citizens recognize individuals that served in the armed forces. This holiday was originally called “Armistice Day,” a day that celebrated the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918.
Prior to the beginning of the ceremony,Reserve Officer Training Corps. (ROTC) students were practicing the “presenting of colors” drill with two rifles, a U.S. flag and a U.S. Army flag. At the beginning of the ceremony, Keith Paylo, Dean of Students and Associate Vice President of Student Affairs, explained the historical importance of the day, and mentioned that the treaty was signed to end WWI, “on the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, on the eleventh month.”
“We’re very proud of our veterans at Point Park University,” Paylo said during his address.
At the midpoint of the ceremony, veteran students and faculty members were honored with red, white and blue ribbons being attached to their shirts for their service in the military.
Gary Bracken, the Vice President of Enrollment Management and a U.S. Army war veteran, took part in the “moment of silence” by placing a patriotic wreath on a stand near Hundred Wood Restaurant.
Staff Sgt. Conrad Slyder, a Pennsylvania National Guard Staff sergeant and Army ROTC representative of Point Park, the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University, shared a few words concerning his experience as a soldier stationed in our nation’s capital during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I was honored to serve that day, and continue to serve from that day,” Slyder said.
Veteran Lynell Ogletree said that the turnout was “nice,” but still holds onto the belief that students should show more appreciation for both the veterans that are on campus and toward the veterans of our country in general.
“They don’t understand until they’re in our shoes. A lot of people don’t have empathy because they don’t know what we have to go through in order for them to be free,” Ogletree said. “I guess that they’re on the outside looking in the inside.”
Faculty members, such as Bracken and Steven Hallock, Point Park’s School Of Communication Director, were honored on that day. Afterwards, Bracken explained why he became a soldier.
“It was something that I felt like I had to do,” Bracken said.
Jessica Shiffert, a private in the U.S. National Guard and junior majoring in forensic science at Duquesne University, was one of the four soldiers that were presenting the colors. Shiffert strongly believes that veterans should be respected and honored more often.
“I feel like there should be more than one day where we just say ‘thank you’ to our troops, because they serve every day,” Shiffert said. “It is nice to have a ceremony to get our voice out there. We do go to school with you guys.”
On that day, students and faculty members showed their respect towards veterans on campus.
“Thank you, veterans, for your service to this amazing country,” Paylo said. “We would not enjoy the freedoms we experience today without you.”
