Beneath the American and Syracuse University flags both proudly flying against a stiff breeze, Ray Axelson, who served in the United States Coast Guard, described the support he felt as a student veteran at the university.

“It was great. I had a great education and I became a chief engineer on route 81 going through the city,” the class of 1950 alumnus said.

Monday’s Veterans Day ceremonies began at 5 a.m. with the reading of the names of the more than 6,000 military personnel who have lost their lives since the war on terror began.

The program continued at 11 a.m. in Hendricks Chapel as multiple Grammy and Country Music Award nominee Michael Peterson doffed his black cowboy hat and invited the crowd to join him in singing the national anthem.

More than 100 students, staff, veterans and members of the community filled the central rows of pews in Hendricks Chapel, with the 198th Army Band seated above.

Lieutenant Colonel Miguel Sapp, a medaled Iraq veteran, executive director of development and alumni relations at SU, and a graduate of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Law, then requested a moment of silence for fallen veterans and their loved ones.

“Every American, no matter where they live or what they do, reaps the benefits of their service,” he said.

Several speakers followed at the podium — including Anthony Keach, president of the Syracuse branch of Student Veterans of America — praising the university’s long history of support for the armed services.

From 1944, when Chancellor William Tolley lobbied Washington for the passage of the first GI Bill, to today, when SU is the only university collecting national data on veterans’ education, they said Syracuse’s history of providing for veterans is indisputable.

Peterson, who toured Iraq and Afghanistan nine times to perform for soldiers and subsequently became the sole recipient of the American Legion’s 2011 National Education Award, then sang “Wave On, Old Glory, Wave On” to the crowd’s standing ovation.

The keynote speaker, Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, extolled SU’s long history of supporting U.S. troops. He cited, among other programs, the work of SU’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families and the university’s participation in the Yellow Ribbon program.

After the 198th Army Band played the anthems of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, with service members in the audience standing to the anthems of the branches with which they’d served, the crowd filed out onto the Quad.

Silent except for the chirping of the few remaining birds and some scattered conversation, everyone awaited the flag ceremony and presentation of a commemorative wreath to end the Veterans Day celebration. SU’s Army and Air Force ROTC members stood at attention as the American flag and then SU’s flag were raised against the breeze.

Fittingly, history came together during the flag ceremony, as the stars and stripes were raised on a flagpole donated by the class of 1914, and the university flag on a flagpole donated by the class of 1940.

The graduates of those two classes lived to see many of their classmates serve in some of the worst military conflicts in history, and their university continue its proud legacy of commitment to veterans.

Said Sergeant First Class Jennifer Pluta: “Syracuse University has a long tradition of support and service to our fellow citizens. We understand the importance of global outreach and civic engagement, and don’t hesitate to answer the call to action.”

Published on November 13, 2012 at 1:26 am

Contact Maggie: mmcregan@syr.edu