WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WFMY) – People across the Triad honored our veterans who fought to protect our freedom.
Wake Forest University hosted a Veterans Day Ceremony to pay tribute to our nation’s heroes and veterans, especially those on its campus.
Colonel Bradley O. Wood, a 1992 graduate, U.S. Army Reserve member, spoke at the ceremony.
Colonel Wood emphasized the importance of the service and commitment of our military referencing his own journey as a Judge Advocate General in Iraq after 9/11.
“Just seeing the relief on soldiers’ faces and just having them come up to me later maybe just at the chow hall,” Wood said in an interview. “Those are the types of things that always made me say, I’m here for a reason, I made the right choice and I’m proud of what I’ve done.”
Master Sergeant Isai Osorio, a Military Science Instructor for Wake Forest’s ROTC, says the ceremony and Veterans Day as a whole is a special occasion for him.
“I appreciate the people that did it before me, that were who inspired me to do this for 20 years already, and I appreciate the community that support the military active now and before,” Osorio said.
Osorio shared that one of his favorite memories in the military was back when he was a drill sergeant.
“As a drill sergeant you see a lot of civilians come to basic training and for me [there] was satisfaction [to] have those civilians convert to military, march from having a lot of hair, no military customs, to having then marching and appreciate the commitment that they have, because it’s voluntary,” he explained.
For ROTC cadets like Connor Felty, a senior in the program, the event was a reminder of what the commitment to serving means to him as he paves his way towards military duty.
“As someone who hasn’t actually entered the army yet or hasn’t entered active duty, it’s a time to think about those that have come before me,” Felty said. “Looking at the people that have come before me gives me something to emulate.”
After the formal ceremony, ROTC cadets laid a patriotic red, white and blue wreath by the half-staffed flag across from the Benson University Center.