FORT SILL, Okla., Nov. 19, 2020 -- On a crisp, brilliantly sunny Veterans Day afternoon with numerous placed American flags enriching the significance of Veterans Grove, Cameron University held its annual Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11 in Lawton.
After the Comanche Battalion color guard marched the American flag to its rightful place, Cameron alumni Joy Christie sang the national anthem.
Retired Col. Albert Johnson Jr., vice president of university advancement, served as the master of ceremonies addressing Cameron’s annual Remembrance Day Roll Call. He said over the last eight years the university has announced 7,004 men and women who died in service to their country.
He then introduced Army veteran Jason Poudrier to recite the names of service members who died in conflict since Veterans Day 2019. He said Poudrier is the adviser to the CU student Veterans Affairs chapter since 2015, a 2018 Pat Tillman scholar, and enlisted in the Army in 2001, but was separated as a sergeant after receiving a Purple Heart for wounds received during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Scattered about the gathering were active-duty service members along with military retirees in uniform and civilians of all ages carefully spaced to allow for the ongoing pandemic.
Among those in uniform, Col. Dan Blackmon, 434th Field Artillery Brigade commander, looked sharp in the new Army Green Service Uniform. He said his grandfather and father wore uniforms similar in style, though not of material, during World Wars I and II.
“When you have a history of military service in your family, (Veterans Day) is just a little more special,” he said.
He added veterans of America’s previous wars were collectively a group easy to identify. Many answered the call to serve not as volunteers but because they were drafted.
In contrast, of today’s military, Blackmon said, “We’re an all-volunteer force, and we’ve been at war for 19 years.”
Coming from a brigade that graduates about 20,000 Soldiers each year, Blackmon could appreciate a university alumni that includes three Medal of Honor recipients and 18 general officers. So it was easy for him to accept the invitation to serve as keynote speaker.
“These types of community partnerships are what makes living here in Lawton Fort Sill so incredible,” said Blackmon. “The intertwining nature of citizen and Soldier that exists here is great to be a part of and makes us all a little bit better.”
Blackmon opened his address reacquainting all about the creation of Veterans Day, then went into an explanation of who veterans are. He said they are the people who when asked, “Whom should I send?” reply, “Send me.”
Although he said veterans value their lives, they find them less important than the lives of their fellow citizens. He said veterans are the sort to selflessly serve or come to the aid of another regardless of their politics, race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
Blackmon then drew on parallels to sports as he said veterans wear the jersey of their nation and play on a team that can never lose.
“And if we ever have anything to say about it, it is always an away game,” he said.
Drawing all in, Blackmon said veterans come from red states and blue states, from small towns and big cities.
“They come from all cultures but have the common bond of service,” he said. “Their bond is one that is special, and one that is the foundation of our trust.”
Blackmon then shared a story that spoke of the bond between service members as he took listeners back to the trenches of World War I.
During an intense battle, a young Soldier sees one of his best friends get shot while moving across an open area on an assault of the enemy position. Heedless of his own safety, the young Soldier starts to ascend the trench to save his buddy, only to have his commanding officer yank him back. Although the commander attempts to shout some sense into the young Soldier’s mind to help him understand the futility of going to a comrade beyond help, his words fall on deaf ears.
When the commander turns away to focus on another matter, the young Soldier scales the trench and runs to rescue his friend.
Later, staggering back to their trench, the young Soldier slumps down with his friend. Recognizing the plight of the young Soldier, the commander asks him if it was worth it to get his dead friend while he himself was now mortally wounded.
The Soldier replied, “Yes, it was worth it, because when I got to him, he was still alive, and as I grabbed him, he looked up at me and said, ‘I knew you’d come.’”
Comparing that portrayal of a young Soldier of the early 20th century with young adults today, Blackmon said there’s a pool of nearly 34 million 17- to 24-year-olds who are the prime candidates for military service. But then the weeding process begins to separate the true candidates from those who won’t meet muster. Matters such as weight, medical, mental, or physical limitations, unethical or criminal acts, along with hard drug use narrow that pool to about 10 million individuals.
That’s still plenty for six services, except another four million get lopped off as they haven’t completed high school or passed an equivalency test. But if enough education is a deciding factor, so too is additional education as another four million opt instead to go to college, he said.
Now looking at roughly two million hopeful candidates, Blackmon said this number drops to 200,000 because many young adults don’t have the propensity to serve.
“This means the idea of putting their lives on the line for someone else isn’t in their DNA,” he said.
So of that 33.8 million, the Army has about 200,000 recruits to select from provided the Air Force, Marines, Navy, Space Force, and Coast Guard haven’t made their introductions first.
Blackmon reinforced his message by saying it’s significantly more likely that a high school football prospect could end up in the NFL than a 17- to 24-year-old young adult to join the U.S. military.
“That’s the quality of veterans who are coming out today. They are working hard and are the best this country has to offer. They are remarkable people, and they volunteered to serve,” he said.
The ceremony ended with the reflective resonance of taps played by trumpeter Joel Moncrief, a CU senior studying music.
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