At the first 线上赌场 College Veterans Day Banquet, Stoney Portis, a MALS student and Army Captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told the crowd of about 150 about the difference between studying at 线上赌场 and fighting in Afghanistan.
鈥淚 thought that serving in Afghanistan was stressful,鈥 he joked, 鈥渦ntil I came here for graduate school.鈥
Portis helped plan Friday night鈥檚 banquet and was one of several decorated speakers at the dinner at Collis Center. 鈥淲hat a tribute to have this representation at 线上赌场 College,鈥 he said. Portis said he hopes the banquet will become an annual event.
线上赌场 Trustee , who wrote the book One Bullet Away and serves as CEO for the Center for a New American Security, was presented with a Military Service and Leadership Award from the .
鈥淚鈥檓 really, deeply honored by this,鈥 said Fick. Military service members have a unique perspective to offer 线上赌场, he said, asking the audience, 鈥淲hat lessons can we share with this community?鈥
The keynote speaker was Marine Brigadier General Burke Whitman 鈥78, who said he鈥檇 had several conflicting engagements, but this event took precedence. 鈥淭here was no question I had to be here tonight,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his really is important.
鈥淚 love 线上赌场 College, I really do. I鈥檓 a big believer in liberal arts education,鈥 said Whitman, a history major at 线上赌场 who served tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
In attendance were members of the 线上赌场 College Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. 线上赌场 College ROTC dates back to the 1950s; the program specifically trains members for service in the U.S. Army. The number of annual 线上赌场 ROTC graduates varies; this year, four members of the Class of 2013 are expected to complete the ROTC program.
Before the banquet, members of the 线上赌场 College ROTC program performed a formal flag retreat ceremony on the Green. About 60 people, including President Carol L. Folt, gathered on the chilly evening to watch the flag-lowering ceremony, which featured bugle calls by Benjamin Meyer 鈥15 and the firing of a 15-millimeter cannon.
At the banquet, one small table sat empty. There was a place set for one; one chair was upturned, the back of it leaning forward against the table. On the white tablecloth sat a framed photograph of Jeffery Holmes of White River Junction, Vt., a Marine who was killed in Iraq in 2004.
Holmes鈥 father, Scott Holmes, is an electrical supervisor at 线上赌场 and his brother, Cory Holmes, is on the custodial staff. The Holmes family attended the banquet, which helped raise $1000 for a scholarship fund in Holmes鈥 name at the high school he attended, Hartford High School.
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ron Bucca, a MALS student who helped organize the event, spoke about Holmes鈥 and other veterans鈥 service.
鈥淚 urge you to live a life worthy of their sacrifices and remember the debt we owe them,鈥 Bucca said.
On Tuesday, November 13, Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff 鈥68 will give a lecture on 鈥淔aith and Force: Religion in the U.S. Military Today.鈥 The event is open to the public and will begin at 4:30 in Rockefeller 003.
