IVC honors all who have served for our nation
Veterans Day is dedicated to thank and honor all those who served in the military, both in wartime and peacetime. It commemorates not only those who have died, but any person who has sacrificed and done their duty, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ website.
This national holiday began 20 years after the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1938. The day was chosen to be on the 11 hour of the 11 day in the 11 month, to celebrate “The Great War” ending.
Irvine Valley College will honor veterans on Thursday from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m., in Quad B.
“What I have tried to do with the Veterans Day program is to incorporate as many campus veterans as I can,” Director of Veteran Affairs, Darryl Cox, and the master of ceremony, said. “I am seeking out those who have a veteran’s experience by not only inviting them to the program but including them in the program in many roles that they would play.”
Glenn R. Roquemore, the president of IVC, will open the ceremony, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and words from a member of the South Orange County Community College board of trustees who will speak to the veterans.
Cox said the ceremony will be include all faculty, staff and the administration that want to share their perspective on the day hoping to get statements from the student veterans’ perspective, and to have comments from the faculty who served in the military.
All of the community of Irvine will be invited, Cox said. Last year, family members from the local community took part in the ceremony representing families those loved ones had served in the military, and who had been searching for a place to observe. Cox was very pleased. However, this year he hopes to reach out to more student veterans as well.
“This would also be a good chance for the veteran students who attend IVC to meet the veterans who work here,” Cox said.
The student veteran population has risen from only 50 students to more than 300 over the last six years.
“Many of the returning veterans are finding their way to Irvine Valley College and we are pleased with that,” Cox said. “[They] are looking for a place that they can have educational benefit, processing, meeting other veterans and finding more information about the campus for who to see and who to go to for aid.”