Veterans Upward Bound programs nationwide joined with other community organizations to commemorate Memorial Day 2023. The ceremonies and events allow veterans to acknowledge the sacrifice of their peers and connect with others in their communities.
Former U.S. Navy Petty Officer Rob Gregg, who directs the VUB program at Pensacola State College in Pensacola, FL, says the sacrifices of military personnel are not particularly visible to the public in daily life. “It’s crucial to provide people those opportunities… to pay attention” to the contributions of veterans through Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Pensacola State’s VUB participants hosted ceremonies at Veterans Memorial Park and Barrancas National Cemetery in coordination with activities planned by the Gulf Coast Veterans Advocacy Council.
Gregg, vice-president of the National Association of Veterans Upward Bound, said these activities complement the academic and financial advising VUB offers veterans to enter or return to college. “There’s also that connection with the community” that’s important to returning veterans, he says. “We try to connect them with the resources in the community.”
For the last 17 years, East Central University (ECU) Veterans Upward Bound in Ada, OK, has co-sponsored a Veterans and Military Appreciation Day in May, almost always during the week of Armed Forces Day, according to Mary Meeks, program director.
The event started “because we are in a rural area, and we wanted to bring resources to our veterans,” said Meeks. Local businesses and elected officials are always represented.
This year’s event, on May 18, featured Air Force veteran Robert Placido, vice chancellor of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, and was funded entirely by donations from individuals and businesses in the community. The mayor, ECU provost, and other local and university officials participated. During the event, veterans had the opportunity to interact with more than 40 representatives of nonprofits and state agencies offering various benefits and health, education, and employment services.
In Boulder City, NV, the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) VUB program on Saturday, May 20, conducted an area beautification project at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery with the Southern Nevada Chamber of Commerce and The Mission Continues, Las Vegas Platoon. Program participants were also slated to participate in a pre-holiday barbecue at the North Las Vegas Veterans Community and Resource Center.
It’s therapeutic for vets, including me. You want to pay homage to the legacy of those who served. We try to take two days a year to do that.
Rob Gregg, VUB Director at Pensacola College
These events are the intro for the Memorial Day weekend rite of placing flags on the markers of more than 40,000 veterans and family members buried in the memorial cemetery, said Jeff Detrick, interim director of adult educational services for the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach at UNLV. Detrick sits on the Governor’s Office cemetery advisory committee.
For Detrick, whose father and uncle are buried in the cemetery, and others, these events are personal and deeply meaningful. “It’s about remembrance. It’s about taking a moment to think about the citizen soldiers of our country that didn’t come home and the sacrifice they made. Thanking them for their sacrifice in your way and appreciating the opportunities we are afforded in this country,” he said. “I believe this is the importance of Memorial Day.”
Gregg concurred, adding that the annual rituals perform an essential role. “It’s therapeutic for vets, including me,” he said of the Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies. “You want to pay homage to the legacy of those who served. We try to take two days a year to do that.”
TRIO Veterans Upward Bound programs assist veterans in developing the academic and other skills required to access and complete a program of postsecondary education. As of FY 2023, 65 projects in the U.S. and territories were serving almost 8,600 veterans. To learn more about Veterans Upward Bound, click here.