Veterans and their families attended a Veteran’s Day Ceremony at the Forum at GCC this afternoon. The Joint Veteran’s Honor Guard of Genesee County presented the flag as the students from the Batavia High School Music Department performed the National Anthem.
State Senator Michael Ranzenhofer was the keynote speaker.
“We are here today to really honor and pay tribute to the sacrifices people make on our behalf so that we have the pleasure to attend a beautiful school like GCC and live in a diverse community,” says Ranzenhofer.
Ranzenhofer says just thanking our veterans is not enough, the words need to be translated into action. He says GCC has done a very good job assimilating veterans back into civilian life .
In Genesee County a new program will begin this year called the Dwyer Project. It has been approved in the State Budget.
Named to honor the memory of an Iraq war hero from Mount Sinai, NY, the Joseph P. Dwyer, the Veteran Peer Support Project is a peer-to-peer program for Veterans facing the challenges of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
The program has demonstrated that the peer-to-peer model is a great tool for helping Veterans transition and reintegrate back into civilian life.
“It’s important that we translate those words to actions to make sure that Veterans receive the benefits and services that they have earned with their blood ,sweat and tears and the sacrifices that they have made.”
“It’s important that we have ceremonies like this to honor and remember the sacrifices and bravery, courage and commitment, dedication to our nation and country and our families.”
Below video of BHS music students singing “God Bless America.”
Specialist Ricky Henderson served with the U.S. Army and is student at GCC.
“The military trains you to be disciplined and honorable to a fault, but they never train you to return home,” says Henderson.
“For me my military career seems as though it was a dream, I loved every minute of it and would do it over again if I had the choice, but to this day, the nightmares and torments of the things we never had control of haunt my nights and sometimes my days.”
“That is why I chose to speak today, many people may look at veterans as lost worn out souls that seem to have lost their purpose in life, I say they just don’t see what we can do. When I see another comrade, I see the strength that we’ve used to fight the good fight, I see the love that we devote to our country and most of all I see family. We may be a bunch of misfits from all races and religions, but I tell you what, you will never see a more connected bond and brotherly love than in the military and amongst veterans.”
Corporal Laura Bukowski, a GCC student who served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
“What we don’t do often enough is say thank you,” says Bukowski.
Bukowski says saying thank you to those who have played roles in your life is important..
“We are not everyone else, we are not normal, we are leaders, we were destined to be who we are today whether we can agree to that or not, we inspire those around us and we are thanked one day out of each year. We have a lot of soul an a lot of commitment to keep going, whether we are 22 years old or 92 years old.”
Ace Strickland a GCC student, who served with the U.S. Army read a poem. Specialist Jessica Caryl, a GCC student who provided sign language for the event, relayed the song “Hallelujah” the military version, in sign language to the crowd on hand