Many people won’t remember that Monday, Nov. 11th is Veterans Day until they open their empty mailbox. It is then that they will realize they forgot that Monday was set aside to honor and respect those who sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy.
In an effort to stress the importance of Veterans Day, Nicholls will host a celebration on Monday, Nov. 11 in the Quadrangle at 11:30 a.m. The general public is invited to attend this free event.
“A lot of times, we don’t hear the word “veteran” until Veterans Day,” Sylvia Bolton, enrollment services clerk chief, said.
“This national holiday helps us remember the veterans that fought for our freedom, which we are still fighting for today.”
State representative Hunt Downer will be the guest speaker for this year’s event. Downer currently serves in the Louisiana Army National Guard as a Colonel assigned as the Assistant Adjutant General. Carrol Robichaux, District 3 VFW chaplain, will give the invocation and benediction.
Guests from local veterans organizations, Nicholls faculty and staff, students and veterans will attend the event. According to Bolton, Veterans Day at Nicholls started out small but expanded and started to draw people from neighboring parishes.
“It is becoming an emotional event people like to attend that grows every year,” Bolton said.
“We expect a large turnout especially since the weather is predicted to be nice and each year the crowd usually gets bigger.”
Nicholls and area high schools will be involved in the ceremony. The Nicholls Concert Choir as well as E.D. White Catholic High School students Ashley Gravois and Garrett Bruce will give musical performances. The ceremony will also include an inspirational reading by Kathleen Bolton, a junior at E.D. White. The Thibodaux High School Junior ROTC will present a twenty-one-gun salute and “Taps”.
In addition to the Veterans Day ceremony, a military memorabilia collection will be on display beginning on Nov. 7. The display will contain uniforms, pictures and medals from local veterans. It will be located on the first floor of Ellender Memorial Library.
Veterans Day came about in the years following World War I. World War I ended on Nov. 11, 1918 at 11 a.m. One hundred thousand American Expeditionary Forces troops in Europe died.
The United States honored those who died and those who served by burying an Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery. This day became known as Armistice Day, and was declared a national holiday 12 years later.
Bolton said that an article in “Veteran’s Outpost” from Veterans Day 1999 really defines the importance of Veterans Day.
The article stated, “The twentieth century taught us that the world will never be completely safe for democracy. Freedom will always require vigilance and exact a high price from those who would possess it. That price is the selfless service of the armed forces of democratic societies.”
The article also stated, “It is only because of the selfless service of our veterans that the United States remains a beacon throughout the world for those who long for freedom and human dignity.”
Bolton said that the view of veterans and their sacrifices has changed since the Sept. 11 attacks and the war on terrorism.
“People are now beginning to see, feel and know what the word “veteran” means,” Bolton said.
Nicholls encourages all students to attend this salute to those who risked their lives for the freedom sometimes taken for granted today. Ceremony organizers hope to honor local veterans, celebrate the freedom veterans fought to secure and get the message across that Veterans Day means much more than an empty mailbox.