| ISU honors veterans with a Veterans Day ceremony |
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| Written by Melissa Castor, Daily Vidette Staff Writer |
| Thursday, 12 November 2009 06:24 |
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Veterans, students and members of the Bloomington-Normal community joined the ISU Army ROTC to honor America’s veterans in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center at noon on Wednesday. Among the crowd sat Josh Pheuffer, marine veteran and ISU junior marketing major. He returned from Iraq in November 2004. “I was only there two and a half months because I got wounded so I got sent back early … It’s good for college kids to know that the school cares and supports veterans,” Pheuffer said. The ceremony began with the posting of the colors by the Army ROTC Color Guard and was followed by the singing of the national anthem by Cadet Jillian Jones of the ISU Army ROTC. Following an invocation, Cadet Phillip House asked for all in the room to take a moment of silence to honor the veterans who had lost their lives in the line of battle. “[The ceremony] honors the importance of what we’ve done for past generations. It has a lot of emotion that comes out with it,” Pheuffer said. As part of the ceremony, ISU hosted guest speaker Sgt. Maj. Vern Wilfinger. Wilfinger honored the veterans by telling the stories of those who he knew and had lost their lives protecting the country.  “Our veterans have taken the dreams of a free nation and made it a reality…that is why we should honor them everyday… Today’s veterans are the custodians of tradition…from one generation to the next [many things change], but the noble spirit beneath the American uniform remains the same,” Wilfinger said. “Most veterans will tell you that serving their country was a privilege, that no thanks are in order,” but Wilfinger encouraged the audience to thank the veterans around them. “It is boots on the ground that wins the day… You can make a difference by encouraging today’s youth to be tomorrow’s heroes. To those who are not veterans, look upon these veterans as the nations fate,” he said. President Al Bowman also spoke a few words to honor the veterans. “We’re here today to thank the millions of Americans that have served our country… On behalf of Illinois State University, I would like to personally applaud those men and women who have served our country,” Bowman said. After the ceremony, the ISU Army ROTC Color Guard proceeded to the flagpole on the Quad for the laying of the flowers and playing of taps. The Color Guard marched out to the sounds of a bagpipe played by IWU Army ROTC Erick Thronson. Greg Hensel, ISU music major, performed Taps on his trumpet. |
