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by MARILYN PAYNE
Intern News Reporter
In celebration of Veteran’s Day, the Appalachian State University Color Guard will present the colors Wednesday morning in an open ceremony.
The ceremony will begin at 7:30 a.m. in front of B.B. Dougherty Administrative Building and former chair of the Department of Military Science and Leadership Lt. Col. Ronald Branch will speak.
In addition to the on-campus presentation of colors, the ROTC will participate in another ceremony at 10:30 a.m. at the Boone Mall on U.S. Highway 321. Here, alongside the local Military Officer’s Association of America (MOAA), the Color Guard will again present the colors.
ROTC Executive
Officer Maj. Maury A. Williams invites everyone in the community to
attend these ceremonies during a day celebration “of solemn pride in
the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with
gratitude for the victory,” in the words of former President Woodrow
Wilson.
Mark A.
Antonitis, senior marketing major and president of the Student Veteran
Association recognizes all veterans cannot be thanked personally, but
appreciates the respect and thanks nonetheless.
“I don’t
expect college kids to walk up and thank me personally,” Antonitis
said. “We don’t walk around in uniform, there’s no way for people to
really know what we’ve been through if they don’t know us already.
Sometimes a thank you does feel nice though. That’s all we want, is a
little show of something.”
Overall, the important thing to veterans is to show thanks.
“These
events are open to the public and we hope that the App State and Boone
community will come out to support and honor our local veterans,”
Williams said. “Go out and in some way thank a veteran for his or her
service to their country. Life as most know it would not be possible
had these same soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines not provided the
selfless service they did.”
In wake
of the shootings Thursday in Ft. Hood, Texas, Williams and Antonitis
both maintain their support for all fellow fighters.
“Our
thoughts and prayers go out to our fellow soldiers and their families
at Ft. Hood,” Williams said. “We take our force protection very
seriously and as always we remain vigilant in order to protect the
soldiers, families and civilians working and living around our command.”
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