Emory Veterans Day ceremony honors service across generations

Emory's 17th annual Veterans Day ceremony began with the rhythmic sound of footsteps - 24 individuals marching as one.

Traditionally held on the Quad, this year's ceremony took place in Convocation Hall due to cold weather. Inside, the precise steps took on a stately, acoustic resonance.

The processional Honor Guard - led by Andrew West, retired first sergeant of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and administrative committee lead for the Emory Veterans Employee Network - featured veterans from across the university and the Atlanta area, as well as current Emory and Georgia Tech Army ROTC cadets and Morehouse College Navy ROTC midshipmen. They joined a standing-room-only audience of individuals from Emory and beyond.

"It's an honor to be here with all of you on this Veterans Day," Interim Emory University President Leah Ward Sears told the crowd. "To everyone who has served, I want to sincerely thank you for your sacrifice and for your dedication to defending and protecting our great country."

Retired U.S. Army Major General Matthew D. Smith, executive director of veterans' initiatives at Emory, delivered opening remarks and reflected on the history of the day. In 1918, he explained, fighting in World War I ended "on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month." A year later, President Woodrow Wilson announced Nov. 11 as "Armistice Day" in honor of those who served in the Great War. In 1954, Congress changed the name to Veterans Day to recognize all members of the armed forces.

Sears shared her personal connections to the holiday, starting with being born on a U.S. Army base in Germany.

Her father served in the Army during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and her two brothers graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. Her father "believed in service not just as a slogan but as a way of life," Sears said.

"When I grew older, I started to see what it had given me," she said of her military upbringing. "Respect for purpose, a sense of gratitude and a strong belief that we are at our best when we are serving something that is greater than ourselves."

Sears added that she sees that ethos reflected in Emory's offerings for veterans, from the myriad education opportunities to the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

"We must use education and research to honor our veterans," she said. "In our own very small way, we show our gratitude for their service by offering them meaningful opportunities."

'Why serve?'

During the keynote address for the ceremony, Hurl Taylor, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War with four Emory degrees, explained how he has benefitted from those very opportunities.

In May, he received a master's in business for military veterans from Emory's Goizueta Business School. At 86 years of age, it was the second time he was the oldest member of an Emory graduating class - the first being 2016 when he completed a master's of religion and public life at Candler School of Theology.

He added that it was a "profound honor" to speak at the ceremony. Looking to his right at Sears, he said that his family shared a deep connection with her: Taylor's daughter was born in the same U.S. Army hospital as Sears in Heidelberg, Germany.

Taylor titled his speech "Why Serve?" and reflected on the generations of military experience in his family.

As a five-year-old in 1943, he remembered eavesdropping on a conversation between his parents - what he called "big people's business" - shortly after his father had been inducted into the U.S. Army during World War II.

He recalled his father saying he felt compelled to serve despite having small children at home. Fast forward almost 25 years, and Taylor found himself having the same conversation with his own wife during the Vietnam War.

"Why serve?" he asked again.

"Well, here's the answer: C-A-R-E, to care." Taylor said. "It's what you care about and are interested in. My father was interested in making a better life for himself and for his family. He cared about his country. The same with me: I wanted a better life for my country and my family. I wanted things to improve.

"And because I cared," he continued, "that's why I served."

A special community

Cliffton Wells, a retired U.S. Air Force lab technician, said he attended the ceremony and marched in the Honor Guard because he is proud of his 22 years of service.

"I am always looking for opportunities to represent the military because I loved it so much," he said.

Now an emergency manager at Emory University Hospital Midtown, Wells said the lessons he learned in the military help him every day on the job.

"It lines up directly," he said. "We're talking about exercising, planning, collaboration, networking. The military will provide you with discipline and a good work ethic. One thing they will teach you is how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable."

For Wells, the military is a family tradition. His grandfather served in the Navy, and his father and older brother served in the Air Force.

Wells said that a coworker, also a veteran, told him about Emory's ceremony. Once he confirmed his uniform still fit, Wells knew he wanted to participate in the Honor Guard.

"Marching is always fun," he said. "Participating and representing is an honor, actually, because of the sacrifice that military members make."

Emory senior Dylan Sanders, an Army cadet through Georgia Tech's ROTC program, also marched with the Honor Guard. He is studying history and Chinese and plans to pursue field artillery and military intelligence after completing ROTC.

Sanders enjoyed meeting generations of current and former uniformed service members.

"I've participated in the Veterans Day ceremony at Emory every year I've been here," he said. "I think being an American is a great privilege and luxury in this world, so when I see those who served before me, it's amazing to see their careers. It gives me a lot of pride, and I admire everybody who's here."

Married couple Albert Wright and Arthurine Williams-Wright were there to meet other veterans.

"All veterans have a special relationship," said Wright, who served in the Vietnam War and earned a master's degree from Rollins School of Public Health in 2012. "We all served this country and lived through good times, bad times, hardships and being away from home."

Wright is a retired Army chief warrant officer, and Williams-Wright is a retired officer of the Army Corps of Engineers.

They met in the military while stationed in different German cities, Wright in Frankfurt and Williams-Wright in Stuttgart. As fate would have it, they both attended a promotion celebration for a mutual friend.

"It was a divine story," Williams-Wright said, "because 40 years later we are still celebrating each other as a veteran couple with two adult children."

They each donned a white sailor cap representing the American Veterans Organization, a service group "where veterans help veterans," Williams-Wright explained.

"I'm so glad I got an opportunity to hear [Hurl Taylor's] message this morning," she added. "He said, 'We serve because we care.' And I was very encouraged that I must keep on serving, because I really do care."

Emory's resources for veterans

Many resources are available to veterans across Emory University.

The Yellow Ribbon program supports post-9/11 veterans by providing funding to supplement educational expenses beyond what is covered by the G.I. Bill.

Army or Air Force ROTC are options for Emory undergraduate students interested in military careers. The cross-enrollment agreement with Georgia Tech allows students to complete their undergraduate degrees at Emory and military training at Georgia Tech.

Emory's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing was selected to participate in the Veteran Affairs Nursing Academic Partnership, an elite program through which undergraduate and graduate nursing students gain valuable training in providing quality healthcare for our nation's veterans.

Goizueta Business School offers an MBA program designed for veterans, which recently celebrated its first graduating class.

Veteran employees across Emory University are welcome to participate in the Emory Veterans Employee Network (EVEN), designed to promote a sense of belonging by Emory veterans through organization, recognition, networking and resources.

The Emory Healthcare Veterans Program offers free, confidential mental health care to eligible post-9/11 veterans and service members across the United States, regardless of discharge status, deployment history or length of service. The program, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, features a two-week intensive outpatient treatment program addressing post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, anxiety and depression.

Photos by Avery Spalding, Emory Photo/Video