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YSU honors memory of military alumni
Veterans Day
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Veterans Day 2008
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THREE GENERALS - and the Chief - Dr David Sweet and Army Generals Don Infante bob Lynn and Matt Kambic (all YSU alumni) were a part of the Veterans Day ceremony at YSU.
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Jim Olive reads some of the 64 names of YSU students and faculty killed while on active military duty as part of a Veterans Day ceremony on campus.
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Veterans Day ceremony at YSU
By Harold Gwin
The names of 64 students, faculty and staff members who died while on active duty were read.
YOUNGSTOWN — Michael Shepherd believes the Mahoning Valley has always been the home of people willing to defend the nation.
So it was with that pride in his community that Shepherd led a ceremony Monday on Veterans Plaza at Youngstown State University, honoring the memory of 64 YSU students, faculty and staff who lost their lives while on active military duty.
Most of them were students who enlisted in World War II and didn’t return, but there were also honorees from the Korean and Vietnam wars.
“The people we recognize today are still part of us,” said Shepherd, a veteran of the Marine Corps and a YSU athletic department retiree, speaking before the public reading of the 64 names.
“Today is a funeral. Veterans Day itself is a celebration,” he said.
Having a ceremony on campus each year to recognize those who died while on active duty is a reminder to everyone that the guy down the street did something special, Shepherd said.
Some colleges and universities don’t really acknowledge the veterans in their midst, but YSU has a tradition of recognizing veterans for their service, he said, citing as an example the construction 10 years ago of Veterans Plaza outside Beeghly Center.
There is an effort, involving Dr. David C. Sweet, YSU president, to create a friendly, welcome environment at the university for veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, Shepherd said.
The ceremony was attended by three YSU graduates who achieved the rank of general in the Army. They are Maj. Gen. Matthew Kambic, a member of the Class of 1982 (accounting) and current commander of the Ohio National Guard; and Maj. Gens. Robert Lynn, Class of 1954 (health and physical education), and Donald Infante, Class of 1958 (mathematics). Lynn and Infante are now retired.
The occasion marked the unveiling of new plaques at Veterans Plaza listing the names of those being honored and was complete with a 21-gun salute from the Marine Corps League and the playing of Taps by trumpeters from the Dana School of Music.
There was also a surprise for Shepherd.
James Olive, manager of Metro Credit Education at YSU, presented him with the first Cincinnatus Award from the Youngstown State University Armed Forces Association.
The award is presented in recognition of an individual’s unselfish service and commitment to his or her community.
Cincinnatus was a Roman who was twice appointed dictator of his nation during times of crisis and twice stepped down immediately after the crisis was resolved rather than retain what amounted to absolute power. Both times he returned to the life of a humble farmer.
gwin@vindy.com