University Reserve Officers' Training Corps midshipmen and cadets assembled on the north steps of the Rotunda yesterday afternoon for a Veterans Day ceremony to recognize the nation's veterans, active duty military personnel, prisoners of war and servicemen missing in action.
The 3 p.m. ceremony marked the end of a 24-hour vigil in which officers marched to honor "the service men and women who have gone before us and who have dedicated their lives to the preservation of freedom" by serving the country in both times of peace and of strife, Cadet Col. Chelsea Bailey, master of ceremonies, said in the ceremony's opening speech.
Following the singing of the national anthem, which opened the ceremony, retired U.S. Navy Capt. Roger Herbert addressed the midshipmen and cadets in a speech.
Herbert, a Navy SEAL team leader, spoke of his deceased chief Tom Kinney, who taught Herbert how to be a "just warrior" by giving his life to protect a Panama prisoner from Panama gunfire.\n"It was really just a gesture, but for some reason that gesture has left an indelible mark on me," Herbert said in the speech. "In those few moments of moral clarity, Chief Kinney ... showed me how courageous people ... could preserve and indeed advance our most precious human values, even in times of war."
Herbert also said students at U.S. colleges who have served in the military are six times more likely to commit suicide than average university students. Although the statistic is not consistent with the University's trends, Herbert highlighted a need to remember "the contrast between the modern battlefield and the idyllic grounds of our Academical Village," which he said can be "dangerously disorienting and isolating."
Four cadets, from the four services of ROTC represented at the University, marched for hour-long shifts of the 24-hour vigil, which was orchestrated by the Arnold Air Society within Air Force ROTC. Air Force ROTC also organized the ceremony.
Herbert thanked the cadets and midshipmen who stood "a 24-hour watch to honor the stories of Americans who fought but never came home."
Bailey, a wing commander for Air Force ROTC, said the ceremony and vigil were held at the Rotunda, a unifying landmark to both the University and to the nation, to raise awareness and remembrance for prisoners of war, missing in action service members and veterans.
"I hope that in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, the vigil will remind students of what it means to be free," Bailey said, hoping the officers' display of support would touch students. "Even if we just remind one person, I think we are accomplishing our goal"
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