Veterans Day was first celebrated in 1919 under the moniker of Armistice Day, named for the final ceasefire of World War I seven months before the Treaty of Versailles was signed. In the middle of the second World War in 1954, the day was renamed to encapsulate all veterans in the U.S. Every Nov. 11 bears this name and its accompanying show of recognition, and it is celebrated in Athens through a range of programming.
Terry St. Peter, the director of the Veterans and Military Student Services Center, has worked with the office for nine years. Peter previously served with the Ohio University Army ROTC from 2011-2015 at the end of his 23 years in the military.
According to St. Peter, the center aims to “ease the transition from military life to academic life” for all military-connected students.
One of these students is Justin Laatz, a second-year graduate student studying sports administration. After his stint serving in the army, Laatz completed a fellowship at the Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio, finding his passion for the sports industry along the way. A visit to the Veterans Center was one of the first things on his list when Laatz arrived at OU for his master’s degree.
“(Veterans Affairs) is paying for my education and whenever there's any issue with that the center is there to immediately answer everything … it’s nice to have as many resources as we have here,” Laatz said.
Laatz made his initial decision to enlist in the army while planning for college.
“I was looking at how I was going to pay for college and I was talking to different mentors throughout my life,” Laatz said. “When I was talking to all these people, I found the one common factor was that all of them had served.”
Laatz went on to join ROTC during his undergraduate years, beginning the path to enlisting after graduation. Lillian Sawyer, a senior studying history, followed a similar trajectory of joining ROTC in anticipation of someday joining the military.
“Every man on my dad's side of the family has served and I’m one of the only people in my family who can keep that going,” she said. “I’ll be the first female and also the first officer in my family to serve, and I just wanted to do something greater than myself and contribute to my country.”
Sawyer serves as the officer in command of the Women’s Officer Leadership Forum for OU ROTC, a group that hosted a female veteran alumni panel after the Veterans Day Parade Nov. 11. The parade began at 10:15 a.m. and then transitioned to the Veterans Ceremony at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
Although the parade was the primary Veterans Day event, the celebration began the week before at the Pancakes to Rations event Thursday. In Baker University Center, students and faculty were encouraged to attend a pancake breakfast or Meals Ready-to-Eat lunch, both to expose civilians to the food eaten by veterans in the field and to introduce them to some student veterans.
Additionally, the Veterans Center arranged for student and faculty veterans to go to local schools for a Meet a Veteran event, and the center’s fourth annual Suicide Awareness Prevention Campaign is scheduled for the upcoming Thursday.
All of these events aim to accomplish the twofold goals of the programming including provide opportunities for the community to meet, greet and honor veterans’ service and raise awareness of veterans among us, according to St. Peters.
Veterans Day means different things for each person who has experienced military life, either directly or by proxy. Sawyer uses the holiday as a chance to acknowledge the sacrifice of those she hopes to emulate and hopes local veterans gain a sense of community and know they aren’t alone. Laatz recognizes the holiday as a chance to reflect on his service.
“For me, it’s just a reminder of how great the people that I served with were because I didn’t do anything spectacular in my military career, but I look back and I’m very proud of it more so because of who I got to work with,” he said.
Similarly, St. Peter uses the celebration as a chance to acknowledge the weight of both his own service and that of the people he knows.
“I’m extremely proud of my service,” he said. “Veterans Day for me is an opportunity to reflect on that service, as well as thank my fellow comrades who have raised their right hand and pledged to serve our nation.”
