Skidmore community honors veterans

Members of the Skidmore community honored veterans at a campus ceremony and luncheon Monday. This year's Veterans Day gathering also marked the centenary of the end of World War I.

U.S. Air Force veteran and Skidmore professor James Kennelly, President Philip A. Glotzbach and U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko spoke of the importance of recognizing veterans’ service on and off campus. 

Laura Goodwin and Saytra Green of Human Resources laid a wreath on behalf of the College, while Campus Safety officers Ray Apholz, Tony Straus and Bob Pierce raised a flag to remember veterans’ service. Apholz and Straus both served in the Army and Pierce served in the Navy. 

 

“We simply take a few minutes each year to recognize those veterans who are a part of our Skidmore community and to express our thanks,” said Kennelly, a professor of international business, who served in the U.S. Air Force and whose education was supported by the G.I. Bill. “When most of us served, we were about the same age as the students whom we now serve today on this campus."

“For many of us, it was a transformative experience," Kennelly continued. "We served with people all over this country, red and blue states alike … it was a common, shared experience in service to, and belief in, something bigger than ourselves.”

President Glotzbach stressed the importance of honoring veterans’ sacrifice for the benefit of the country.

“It is important to pause in our busy lives and our other concerns to take time, from time to time, to acknowledge those who have served in particular ways and who have made sacrafices,” Glotzbach said. “It’s important for us to remember what we were fighting for. It's also important for us to remember what we fought against.”

Noting the small percentage of Americans who now serve in the armed forces, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko called veterans an “honor roll of citizens.”

“It’s a humbling note to gather here with so many of those who have endured in wartime and in peacetime … so that our rights and liberties might be protected,” Tonko said.