Cal U honors veterans at 38th annual luncheon
Dave Rafferty
Rickey Walters of Brownsville, who served in the United States Air Force from 2006-2010, reads the names of more than 6,200 military members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 10 years since Sept. 11, 2001, as part of the Remembrance Day National Roll Call at California University of Pennsylvania Veterans Day festivities.
Dave Rafferty
Local veterans and their families celebrate a moment of remembrance during the California University of Pennsylvania 38th Annual Veterans Day Luncheon.
Dave Rafferty
One of the guest speakers representing the United States Air Force and Cal U student veterans was Vera Mineard, who spoke during the 38th Annual Veterans Luncheon held at the Performance Center Natali Student Center.
As indicated on the cover of the program for this year’s Cal U Veterans Day luncheon, all branches of the military were honored.
CALIFORNIA — All branches of the military were honored Friday at California University of Pennsylvania’s 38th annual Veterans Day luncheon, but it was noted that the university’s commitment to the military is part of its earliest heritage.
“All the way back to the Civil War, our students have stepped up and have continued to step up,” said Dr. Timothy Susick, associate vice president of student affairs.
Outside the Natali Student Center more than 30 volunteers read aloud the names of the 6,313 members of the armed services who have been killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001. Each read 200 names, standing in the chilly air and occasional burst of snowflakes. Zachary Anderson, president of the university’s Veterans Club, said Cal U is one of only 183 universities across the United States participating in the National Remembrance Day Roll Call.
“We felt it was something we should do to honor the people who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, who have given the ultimate sacrifice,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the Veterans Club opened the event to everyone on campus, so that if someone had a loved one on the memorial list, they would be able to read that person’s name. Anderson said STAND campus ministry also was on hand to help students through what could be an emotional time.
Cal U student and veteran Rickey Walters of Brownsville was among the volunteer readers.
“It meant a lot to know that people sacrificed their lives so everyone here could enjoy this lunch and Veterans Day and time with their families. It made me proud to have served with them,” Walters said.
Amanda Williams, an Army veteran and current Cal U student, said she vividly remembers her last day in uniform.
First, an elderly couple anonymously paid the dinner bill for her and several other veterans as they were heading home. Later, a woman at the airport thanked her for serving, adding, “My 18-year-old son was killed in Afghanistan last week.”
Veterans Club member Vera Mineard, who served in the Air Force from 2000-2004, said she still lives by the Air Force core values of “integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do.”
University President Angelo Armenti Jr. noted that during World War II, there were 38 million people killed, 25 million of them civilians, and that genocides have continued to the present day.
“We have had times when politicians have avoided using the term ‘genocide’ because if they had, they would have been called to act,” Armenti said. “Good men and women must do something to prevent the triumph of evil and sometimes the only way to do that is military action.”
Armenti commended the men and women willing to serve in the armed forces to safeguard the freedoms enjoyed by the rest of America.
“This Veterans Day, let us also make it a day of thanksgiving,” Armenti said.