With the posting of the colors, gratitude and honor made their way to the Main Quad for the third annual Veterans Day Ceremony at De Anza College on Wednesday.
To start off the ceremony, John Russell, conductor of the De Anza Wind Symphony, lead the group in a piece called “Spirals of Light.”
“The speakers are always great and can be inspiring, but if you have the added dimension of music it hits the heart … and the soul a little bit more.” Russell said. “This is our third year in a row, so it’s a tradition that we’re trying to keep alive.”
The color guard posted both the California and the United States flags to display for the audience.
The president of the De Anza Student Veterans Association, BJ Malekzadeh, gave a brief introductory speech, followed by a speech from De Anza President Brian Murphy.
He said 370 current De Anza students are military veterans.
“We regard [the] 370 families enrolled in this college, because the future of those families depend upon the ability of those men and women to get the education they deserve, the education they’ve earned, the education that the country owes them, and which this college is profoundly committed to delivering,” he said.
Murphy introduced Karen Chow, president of the De Anza faculty senate, to give the faculty greeting, followed by a musical interlude by the wind symphony, a medley of the theme songs of the armed forces.
John K. Swensson, English professor and veteran who served in Vietnam, introduced guest speaker Maj.-Gen. Kent Hillhouse.
“There was a general who once said, ‘I never discussed the constitution very much, I never made speeches about it, but I’ve done a good deal of fighting for it,'” Hillhouse said.
“Most of our veterans, down through the years, can identify with these words. They knew within themselves why they were fighting, but they didn’t talk openly about it. They were simply doing what they had to do. And that’s the key: we do what we have to do.”
