UHCL ceremony honors American veterans

Padmashree Rao

The Signal

The ninth annual Veterans Day celebration, to be hosted at the university’s Liberty Park, has the theme “The Call to Serve” and will feature the voices of wars from the World War II era to now. UHCL will also mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11 when it joins more than 145 colleges and universities nationwide for the “Remembrance Day National Roll Call,” a reading out of the names of 6,200 fallen heroes of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom on the 11-11-11 Veterans Day event.

“It is a great honor,” said Cheryl Rohde, executive secretary of university advancement, Veterans Day event coordinator and adviser to the Student Veterans Association (SVA). “These people [veterans] have given more, as far as their sacrifices. They have given us everything. Many volunteered to serve, which takes great courage. And we appreciate what they did for our country to preserve our freedoms.”

Rohde pointed out that Veterans Day is a day of pride and gratitude and not a memorial.

“Even though the names on the roll call are of the deceased, this is not a memorial,” Rohde said. “It is to celebrate the lives of those who served. At UHCL we have a lot of veterans in the aerospace community and the community at Ellington Field. We are very fortunate to host this as a community event.”

Cpl. Ralph Barkin, U.S. Marine Corps, who served during World War II and the Korean War, will be a speaker, highlighting the role of a nation at home that supports soldiers at war from the years past to the present. Retired Cpl. Donny Daughenbaugh, who served in the Marine Corps during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2, will talk about the uniqueness of a soldier’s call to serve in his address.

“The focus of my speech will be the people on the homefront – the sacrifices they made to support the men at war,” Barkin said. “Without their help, the war efforts would not have succeeded.”

Barkin said technology has saved more lives in the current wars and pointed out that as more veterans survive, coming back home carries its own challenges. Barkin emphasizes that as Veterans Day approaches, the important thing is to remember.

“The most important thing is to keep the care going for these brave soldiers, to not forget to support the wounded,” Barkin said.

Daughenbaugh, who became the youngest “Marine of the Year” just after 9/11, said that his years of ROTC training in high school and volunteer work inspired his call to serve in a Marine uniform.

“In America, less than one percent of our population protects and serves the other 99 percent,” Daughenbaugh said. “Our military is all voluntary. There are 18-year-olds signing up now, knowing that they could be put in harm’s way in a few months. But, they are still doing it. And so, that one percent really sticks out as something to be extremely proud of. When the community and universities like UHCL show their support, what they do makes it feel like being a veteran means so much more.”

The UHCL chapter of SVA caters to the needs of student veterans, helping them ease into civilian life and an educational career. Randy Seawright, SVA president, estimates that student veterans constitute more than 8 percent of the UHCL student population.

“Our goal is to establish a permanent veterans office on campus,” Seawright said. “Student organizations ebb and flow, and while we can provide great liaison to our student veterans, we believe that having an actual office will accomplish all of our goals and more for years to come. I would also like to add how supportive the upper administration at UHCL has been in moving forward with this office.”

“Our goal as UHCL’s SVA is to make sure that each veteran is well informed of their rights, benefits and entitlements,” explained Heather Kulhanek, vice-president of UHCL’s SVA. “We are here to make sure each veteran knows that they are welcomed home. The students that are involved with the SVA are from all walks of life. We are not bonded by similar interests, lifestyles or cultures.”

Along with the speeches, the honoring roll call and a Presentation of Colors by Clear Lake High School Junior ROTC, the celebration will include an open forum inviting audience participation and a display of vintage military vehicles by the Bluebonnet Military Motor Pool of Texas. The free public event will move to Atrium II of the Bayou building in case of inclement weather.

“There are many combat veterans here and in our communities that carry an unimaginable burden with them every day,” Kulhanek said. “These veterans will not be the ones to stand up and tell their story. They will not ask for help. They will not see themselves as the heroes that they are. I only hope that we as a community can show them that they really are heroes and Veterans Day is for them as well as the WWII and Vietnam veterans.”

To volunteer to read names for the Roll Call, contact Rohde by calling 281-283-2024. For more information about the event, click here.