RIT and NTID Honor Veterans
NTID President Alan Hurwitz (left) welcomes visitors to the 2009 Veterans Day commemoration in the Joseph F. and Helen C. Dyer Arts Center at NTID. Photo by Mark Benjamin. See full-size photo
More than 150 people attended a Veterans Day commemoration today to honor the men and women and their families who have served their country over the years.
Many of those who came either served in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard. Veterans of all ages attended the event. They served in World War II, Vietnam, Korean, the Gulf Coast and Iraq and Afghanistan. Several Army and Air Force ROTC members who are currently students at Rochester Institute of Technology also attended, wearing their brown camouflage uniforms and black boots.
This year, more than 175 RIT students are receiving veteran benefits. That includes 70 new students who arrived this fall, said Gene Clark, RIT's director of veteran services. He expects that number to rise in the coming years, as more veterans transition from service and return to school.
After RIT's 8 Beat Measure sung the national anthem, a brief moment of silence and remembrance of our veterans - especially those who died in a mass shooting last week in Ft. Hood, Texas - was held.
RIT President Bill Destler and Alan Hurwitz, president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, vowed to make the ceremony an annual event. "We should be as grateful as we can for their service to our families and for our country," Destler said of the veterans.
The Veterans Administration says more than 70,000 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer hearing loss as a result of their service. RIT this year not only became a Yellow Ribbon College - which allows considerable tuition reduction for veterans. It also established an outreach program to welcome recent veterans with hearing loss. RIT has four decades of experience teaching students with hearing loss, so those veterans with a hearing loss could easily get the access services in classrooms and counseling as needed.
Robert Frisina, founding director of NTID, director of the National Center for Speech and Hearing Research based at NTID and Vice President Emeritus of RIT, was a fighter pilot for the Army Air Corps during World War II.
He said veterans initially fought for this country's destiny. "Some 150 years later, in mid-20th century, we fought for the fate of the free world," he said. "And since then, in times of peace and war, whenever called to serve our country's interests around the globe we did so willingly and with honor."
Frisina said veterans "are a cross-section of a nation of immigrants, with diversity unparalleled in any other place or any other time What we have in common is a deep sense of obligation to a land of opportunity unique in this world."
In return, Frisina said it would be nice if veterans could have an easier time to transition back into mainstream life, with efficient and effective services available as needed from the Veterans Administration. And everyone should make sure to safeguard the unique liberties enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
"Preservation of these fundamental freedoms strikes at the heart of why we served," Frisina said. "If pausing to celebrate Veterans Day can serve as a reminder of the sacrifices that have been made to get us this far, perhaps we can muster a national will to sustain this strong and generous country."
His remarks were followed by a standing ovation.
Steve Campbell, an Air Force Veteran and director of NTID's Technology and Information Services, said plans for this ceremony began just a few weeks ago and was originally intended to be a small breakfast. He was grateful for the large turnout and support he received from those who helped make it possible.
Clark, who worked with Campbell to organize the event, wanted to thank everyone who supported a person serving in the military, whether it was sending cookies or lip balm, a perfume-scented letter or just their support and well wishes.
"Veterans Day 2009 is a significant emotional event for me personally," Clark said. "Working with veterans here at RIT is not only a passion, but a privilege for me. This is truly a heartfelt thanks for making this happen."
Those in attendance also were moved. Sue Miller, a senior staff assistant at NTID, wiped away tears as she hugged and thanked Clark for his service. Miller's brother, Carl McCarthy Jr., was killed while serving in Vietnam in 1970. She couldn't recall when she last attended a Veterans Day event.
"I thought this whole ceremony was wonderful," Miller said. "I was so impressed."