Veterans Day in the Eyes of ROTC Cadets

Veterans Day is a nationwide federal holiday celebrated on November 11 to honor military veterans who served as part of the United States Armed Forces. On this particular day, Marist ROTC cadets proudly celebrated Veterans Day with the Marist community. Evan Fernandez ‘21 and Eric Johnson ‘20, ROTC cadets, spoke about what Veterans Day means to them and what an honor it is to serve this nation.

When asked what Veterans Day means to him, Fernandez said, “It simply means a lot. The number of people who served in the military before those serving now is exponentially higher. It's hard to imagine where we would be today if we did not have that paragon to look up to, mistakes to learn from, their successes to model ourselves after."  

Johnson expressed that Veterans Day is a holiday that allows us to appreciate the people who served/serve and all that comes with the service. The amount of stress they endured, friends they lost, mental harm and physical damage inflicted upon them, signifies the importance of having a day to themselves. They deserve the recognition for all they do for the United States. 

Fernandez added that everything revolves around perspective and remembering that this fight is a long one. "Cadets don't do it just for themselves, or only to display their uniform,” he said. “They serve because of the people who served before them. The veterans deserve respect and continuity of their mission.” 

When asked about the significance of Veterans Day for the Marist College community, Johnson said, "Subjectively speaking, at Marist College, given the majority of the student population is from the tri-state area, many of those people were affected by 9/11, and a lot of victims were U.S. veterans." 

When asked about the impact of Veterans Day on the individual level, Fernandez said that Veterans Day resonates with him because his grandfather served in the armed forces. His grandfather’s influence inspired him to join the military and pursue ROTC at Marist. 

Johnson also mentioned that his family has extensive involvement with the military. His grandfather on his mother’s side of the family served in Vietnam and his grandfather on his father's side of the family served in the navy during World War II.   

Moreover, Fernandez shared his experience of the celebration of Veterans Day at Marist. He said there were many veterans present at this year's flag-raising ceremony outside of Donnelly Hall. “It was a massive flag, almost daunting, one of the biggest flags that I’ve ever seen,” Fernandez said. 

When Johnson and Fernandez think of becoming veterans one day, they describe it as a strange feeling. Trying to put yourself in those shoes is very difficult because of the challenges veterans face, especially coming back from battle. The population of military veterans in the U.S. is like no other community in the country. They put their lives at risk for us, so our duty is to be appreciative and thankful for their service.