November 2022 - Dan Bazan - Communications Director
Our 2022 Veterans Day Celebrations were inspiring. Thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered, and attended our celebration assemblies. These events are one of our three patriotic education programs throughout the year, and they are essential to how we teach students about service and sacrifice to our country. It was evident this year that our APA community understands the value of our honored service members and the importance of sharing these messages of service and sacrifice with our students. Thank you for being part of this fantastic educational experience.
Over 500 veterans and guests attended our campus celebrations during Veterans Week, and our volunteers served food to over 400 veterans during our receptions.
We had the honor of hosting several World War II veterans:
Loren Spencer, who served in the Pacific fleet and fought in Iwo Jima, Lincoln LeCheminant (Air Force), Bill Harris (Navy), Tom Duke, Jack Goodwin (Army Air Corps), and Wid Tolman (Navy).
We experienced a unique opportunity to observe a two-minute moment of silence during one of the Draper 2/3 celebration events. We were very impressed with how our students honored the two minutes of silence. The students were phenomenally respectful and did a fantastic job.
Why do we observe a moment of silence on Veterans Day? At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, Allied powers signed a ceasefire agreement with Germany in France, ending World War I. This defining moment has been remembered over the years as Armistice Day and designated as a federal holiday in the United States in 1954 as Veterans Day. In 2016, Congress passed the Veterans Day Moment of Silence Act. This Act directs the President to issue an annual proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe two minutes of silence on Veterans Day, beginning at 12:11 p.m. Mountain standard time, memorializing the very moment that the ceasefire agreement was signed. We regard this moment in honor of the service and sacrifice of veterans throughout the nation's history.
Thank you to our veterans for serving our country to protect our freedoms and to our incredible APA community for participating in these celebrations.
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