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Update: View the photo album from this ceremony>>
SUNY Fredonia will hold a memorial service for U.S. veterans on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. in the Williams Center Multipurpose room on the SUNY Fredonia campus.
The event will provide a forum through which the university and surrounding community can gather to remember, honor and show their gratitude to the men and women who have served our country through the many branches of the Armed Forces.
The ceremony will include the presentation of the first SUNY Fredonia Veterans Scholarship award, presented to Charlene Miller, a senior from Forestville, N.Y., pursuing a dual Business major in Finance and Economics. Ms. Miller served eight years in the U.S. Army and remains an active reservist through the National Guard. While on active duty she served as a Medical Logistics supervisor, was stationed in numerous countries, and earned 17 medals or badges in recognition of her achievements and service. Since enrolling at SUNY Fredonia in the fall of 2007 she has earned Dean’s List recognition and presently holds a 3.3 cumulative grade point average.
SUNY Fredonia President Dennis L. Hefner will lead the veterans’ remembrance service and the Dunkirk High School Junior ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) cadets will present and retire the colors (U.S. and state flags) during the ceremony. In addition, several of the top voice majors from SUNY Fredonia’s world-renowned School of Music will perform the “Star-Spangled Banner.” These same students will perform the national anthem just three weeks later at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the Nov. 29 Buffalo Bills game vs. the Miami Dolphins.
The veterans’ ceremony will also include a display featuring photos of Vietnam’s people and culture taken a half-century ago by retired Army Col. David Correll. A Westfield, N.Y. resident, Col. Correll served in Vietnam and has established his own scholarship for SUNY Fredonia students who are majoring in Visual Arts and New Media and concentrating in Photography.
At SUNY Fredonia, 31 student veterans are currently enrolled who together have provided 132 years of cumulative military service. In addition, SUNY Fredonia employs 68 veterans who have given 1,018 years of service to the university, as well as five Faculty Student Association (FSA) employees who represent an additional 100 years of campus service. All major branches of the military are represented in some fashion within the SUNY Fredonia community.
In addition to the ceremony (now in its second year) and an active Veterans Affairs program on campus, a new Student Veterans Club has been formed this semester, under the advisement of U.S. Marine Corps veterans Benjamin Hartung, coordinator of the campus’ Office of Veterans Affairs, and Darryl Coleman, ’96, ’05, senior assistant librarian at SUNY Fredonia’s Reed Library. The club provides support and social guidance to student veterans and their families, while facilitating a sense of camaraderie among its members.
A brief reception with light refreshments will follow the Nov. 10 ceremony in the Williams Center.
