Skidmore community pays tribute to veterans
The Skidmore community — staff, faculty, alumni, and students — gathered to honor veterans and reflect on their service and its importance to American democracy at a campus Veterans Day ceremony.
Skidmore employees presented a wreath on behalf of veterans, and student trumpeter Linden Amster ’27 played taps as the flag was raised in honor of veterans on campus and across the country.
Lt. Cmdr. Jules Martowski ’10, command psychologist at the Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit in Ballston Spa, said his education at Skidmore helped hone the Navy’s core values of honor, courage, and commitment.
Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Parker Diggory offers remarks as Campus Safety Officers Robert Pierce, a navy veteran, and Campus Safety Officer Renalda Board, an army veteran, prepare to raise the flag.
“As active-duty service members, we often focus on the mission ahead. Yet today, we remember that we are part of something larger ... We owe a debt to those who wore the cloth of our nation before us and to those who will serve after us,” said Martowski, who majored in psychology and minored in sociology at Skidmore. “As we reflect on the service and sacrifices of veterans, it is paramount that we remember their actions for what they were: continuous, selfless choices supporting their belief in something greater than themselves.”
Today, let us honor our veterans, with words and with action, carrying forward their spirit of dedication and valiant defenses of freedom.”Lt. Cmdr. Jules Martowski ’10
President Marc Conner spoke of Veterans Day as a day filled with personal meaning and family connections for himself and for many, as well as a day with profound significance for the country.
“We think, of course, of what it means to our nation – the importance of this level of service to our nation and all those ideals that we uphold, that are particularly potent to us in the wake of an election and that remarkable moment of democracy,” Conner said.
Parker Diggory, director of religious and spiritual life, spoke of the diverse experiences of veterans and led the community in prayer.
“We lift up veterans, their service, their experiences. May we honor them. May we keep our promises to them for their care, for the nourishment of their families and communities, and the promises we made to them,” she said. “Maybe someday there can be a day when we don’t ask our children to take up arms, but rather we can celebrate that we no longer need to.”