By Dean Joannou, Staff Writer
There are an estimated 17 million veterans in the United States, and Promise sought to honor them last week in recognition of Veterans Day. The first of the two events was Tuesday, Nov 9 with Letters for Veterans, followed by the Veterans Day Flag Raising Ceremony on Thursday, Nov 11.
“Letters for Veterans is an important thing to do for Veterans Day,” Linus Chun of LIu Promise said. “We have people who have served our country and I think even a simple letter is a powerful message. The event, in which students volunteer to write letters to veterans of the United States Armed forces, required less outreach than most Promise events as many students were eager to show their gratitude.”
Over 90 letters were sent out to veterans because of the event.
We have a lot of students who identify with having a family member who is a veteran,” Chun said.
Veterans Affairs Liaison at LIU and a veteran herself, Michele O’Brien, says that the letters are sent to veterans living in nursing homes as well as to the Fisher House Foundation, which is a charity and that builds comfort homes where military & veterans families can stay free of charge, while a loved one is in the hospital.
As for the Flag Raising Ceremony, O’Brien says that while Promise was not able to have the same event as years past due to COVID-19 restrictions, the ceremony was nonetheless a success this year.
“Our speaker, Maria Duame, was amazing,” O’Brien said. Daume is a freshman social work major who served in the United States Marine Corps from 2016 to 2020.
“We did have a special guest this year which was extremely nice; Gregory Ramaeka who was a Petty Officer in the United States Coast Guard. It is always nice to have veterans supporting veterans,” O’Brien said.
Stay updated with LIU Veteran Affairs and any upcoming events they have on liu-post.presence.io.
Be First to Comment