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Thank You, Veterans, For Your Service
VWU paid tribute to service members during its annual Veterans Day Ceremony on November 11
University News | November 12, 2019
By Laynee H. Timlin
View Veterans Day Ceremony Photo Gallery
“We at Virginia Wesleyan are exceptionally proud of our Marlin veterans—a vital component of our community made up of current students, faculty, staff, and hundreds of alumni,” said President Scott D. Miller at the University’s annual Veterans Day Ceremony on November 11. “You have gone above and beyond your citizens’ duty by volunteering your lives and answering when your country has called.”
The event, held on Godwin Hall Lawn in front of VWU’s Veterans Memorial Monument and Garden, celebrated Marlin veterans and active-duty service members. The ceremony opened with the entrance of the VWU and ODU Army ROTC Color Guard, singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Virginia Wesleyan’s Vox Vera, and an invocation from University Chaplain Rev. Greg West. Coordinated by Deputy Director of The Lighthouse Amy Rush and Assistant Director of Financial Aid Melanie Monk, the ceremony has become a Wesleyan tradition.
President Miller introduced retired U.S. Navy Captain Raymond A. Duffy, who served as the featured speaker.
Captain Duffy, an adjunct professor in the Management, Business, and Economics department at Virginia Wesleyan, received his commission from the Navy ROTC program at Villanova University in 1970 and served in active duty for more than 28 years, retiring in July of 1998. During his career, Captain Duffy served in multiple combat environments including Vietnam, Beirut, Grenada, Operation Desert Storm, and Bosnia. He earned an undergraduate degree from Villanova, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Bridgewater State University, a Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University, and an MBA certificate from Tulane University.
After his retirement, he was employed by Northrop Grumman for more than 17 years in a role that supported Joint, Navy and Marine Corps commands. A former Vice President for Expeditionary Warfare Programs of the Steelman Group, he is also an instructor at the computer simulators, teaching active-duty personnel navigation, seamanship, and ship handling in Norfolk, Spain, and Bahrain. Captain Duffy is also a business development consultant for MacTaggart Scott—a Scottish military ship equipment manufacturer in North America.
In his address to attendees, Duffy shared facts about Veterans Day. He noted that “Veterans Day” was first called “Armistice Day,” and is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed for the cessation of hostilities for World War I, which took effect at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918.” During World War II, many countries changed the name of the holiday to “Remembrance Day” and to “Veterans Day,” as it is now known in the U.S.
Not to be confused with Memorial Day, a time to remember and honor the military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces, Veterans Day is a day for honoring military veterans, all of those who have served in the United States Armed Forces, Duffy noted.
He concluded his remarks with a request for those in attendance.
“Please keep all veterans in mind today,” said Captain Duffy, “and thank them for their service.”
Luke Dobrin, of Boy Scout Troop 259 in Chesapeake, Virginia, played “Taps” on the bagpipes in honor of those veterans we have lost. Ceremony attendees and Virginia Wesleyan Vox Vera sang “America (My country, Tis of Thee),” and VWU student and Veteran Luzcelenia Carmago ’21 (U.S. Navy 2012 – 2019) offered a Prayer of Thanksgiving. A reception on the patio of the Barclay Sheaks Gallery immediately followed the formal program.
Learn more about Veterans Support Services at Virginia Wesleyan University