HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 11, 2014 – One by one they stood up in a room filled with young and old, male and female, black and white, to share the thing they all had in common.
Some shared tales from the Navy or the Army. Others experienced combat while some had never left the country. A few never served but felt the sting of separation through family members who had. The consensus in the room was this: Everyone there had done their job and contributed to making the United States a great nation.
Those people were residents from Pennybyrn at Maryfield retirement community who are veterans or family members of veterans. They filled the Wilson School School of Commerce ballroom on campus today for a luncheon to honor their sacrifice and were joined by students, faculty and staff of HPU, some also veterans, who came to meet them and say thank you.
Between bites of food and sips of coffee, they seemed to get lost in memories of faraway times.
“I didn’t serve, but my father did in World War II,” Marianne Royle stood up to say. “He was 35 and had a wife and two kids at home. He didn’t have to go, but he chose to. I always thought it was a great thing that he went and didn’t have to, and that so many people went who didn’t have to.”
Don Kelsey, a former infantryman who served in the 1950s, sat next to HPU junior Sean Danielczyk. Kelsey shared his wisdom with the student who plans to join the Army Reserves.
“This was wonderful, emotional and made me even more proud to be an America,” said Danielczyk about the luncheon.
It was the second year in a row the university held the event and offered a blanket to each veteran as they left. The blanket symbolized the warmth and comfort all veterans have brought into the lives of Americans.
“You’ll hear us say often on this campus, ‘We are a God, family and country school,’” Dr. Don Scarborough, vice president for community relations said at the event. “We want to thank you for your service and honor you on this campus today.”