Elon and North Carolina A&T ROTC cadets presented and raised the flag on Scott Plaza, as the community honored U.S. servicemembers on Veterans Day.
Members of the Elon community gathered at the Scott Plaza around Fonville Fountain Thursday morning to honor those few Americans who have pledged their lives to the ultimate cause for the Veterans Day flag-raising ceremony.
“It is critical that we take a moment to pause and reflect on the many veterans who make it possible for us to live a free life here in America,” President Connie Ledoux Book said during the ceremony. “We commemorate and recognize their service today here at Elon.”
Book acknowledged all veterans at attendance for the ceremony, including Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Education Mary Kay Hannah, U.S. Army veteran, Professor of Management Matt Valle, U.S. Air Force veteran and cadets from the Elon and North Carolina A&T ROTC color guard which presented the United States flag.
“I’ve always thought that America provides its greatest resource to protect its Constitution, and that is our young people,” Book said. “I’m grateful that Elon is taking a moment to recognize the important freedoms that we all have, the values we all share and the work of our veterans and upcoming officers in making that possible.”
The ceremony was organized by Hannah, who began her military career in the ROTC after which she was commissioned as a Military Police officer before ultimately reclassing to the Army Medical Specialist Corps to become a physical therapist. Hannah served at Walter Reed Army Medical Center treating war causalities. She then served as assistant chief of PT at Fort Bragg in North Carolina where she deployed with the 4th Brigade 82nd Airborne Division for 15 months.
“I am humbled today to have been invited to help honor those who have served in the profession of arms,” Hannah said.
Only 1.4 million Americans are serving on active duty at any given time, which represents 0.4 percent of America’s population. Of all living people, there are 19 million veterans, according to Pew Research Center. Hannah said there are as many reasons to join as there as service members. “But once joined, everyone wears the same uniform on the outside and everyone is a patriot on the inside,” Hannah said.
“We all do a job that I think everyone appreciates,” she added. “We all raise our hand and swear an oath to the Constitution and to our brothers and sisters. We work together on the greatest collective mission – ‘to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same.’”
Duncan MacLeod, an Elon senior and U.S. Marines reservist, spoke following the flag-raising ceremony to dispel a few myths about veterans. Those myths being that some people think veterans are crazy, they are tough to understand and they are invincible.”
But the truth is, MacLeod said, veterans are regular people. MacLeod said it is tactless to think that just because someone is a veteran, they do not have good days and bad days.
“Our bad days are no different than your bad days. Perhaps they take different forms. Perhaps they stem from different places. But just like you, we have struggles and we face challenges in our lives,” MacLeod said. “Therefore, it’s important that we all be compassionate when it comes to dealing with those struggles. Even if you do not understand, that does not mean you cannot be understanding.”
University Chaplain Kirstin Boswell gave the closing remarks at the ceremony and gave thanks to those who have put their own lives on hold to reach for the good of the collective.
“This morning, we lift our hearts and minds in praise of those who unselfishly leave behind loved ones, father and mothers, brothers and sisters, children and beloved partners in order to carry on the dreams and ideals of an imperfect nation,” Boswell said.