On campus, the University will host its annual Veterans Day Prayer Service on Nov. 11 at noon in the Veterans and ROTC Lounge in Hyland Hall. The service, organized through a collaboration among Campus Ministry, the Student Veterans Organization (SVO) and the ROTC program, honors and remembers those who have served in the military.
Surridge will be the event’s guest speaker. During his reflection, he will discuss the people behind military service and the sacrifices that come with it. Veterans Day is about honoring those who served, he said, but it is also important to recognize the families who serve alongside them.
“Recognizing the spouses who pack up their lives every few years and make another unfamiliar place feel like home. The kids who leave their friends, change schools and start over again and the families who spend important moments apart,” Surridge said. “When we recognize a veteran, I think we should also recognize the people who stood behind them and made that service possible.”
This year marks Barbara King’s fifth year celebrating Veterans Day among colleagues and students at the prayer service. King, the University’s student life coordinator, said she enjoys seeing the different campus organizations participate together and the personal connection the guest speaker’s reflection brings to the service.
“Veterans sacrifice so much, and it’s one of the ways we can celebrate and honor them,” King said. “Most of us on this campus have friends and family members who are veterans and pausing for a moment to celebrate them is important.”