Toledo gives thanks to veterans at UT ceremony

The Toledo community gave thanks Monday to the hundreds of veterans who attended the University of Toledo’s eighth annual veterans’ appreciation breakfast at Savage Arena.

The breakfast was followed by a remembrance ceremony, which included a moment of silence for fallen service men and women and the traditional playing of Taps on the bugle.

Col. Steven Scott Nordhaus of the 180th Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard thanked the veterans in the arena and those who had died.

“We owe so much to our veterans, it is a debt that we can never truly repay,” he said. “Their stories are the stories of our history, because America rose to greatness on their backs.” Nordhaus also spoke of his own experiences telling families that their loved one had died in service.

“These scars of freedom and war cut across our entire country, yet they bind us together stronger, and stronger together as a nation,” he said. “Freedom isn’t free.”

Nordhaus said that the new Veterans Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinic, which opened recently, offers many services for about 12,000 veterans.

Mayor Mike Bell commended UT for the recently opened U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Toledo Community Based Outpatient Clinic on the Health Science Campus. He said it will help veterans “become human again” after they return home from combat duty.

“I think sometimes we forget the human element of our veterans,” he said.

State Rep. Teresa Fedor said honoring veterans is important and discussed some state initiatives to help veterans who become addicted to substance abuse.

“They serve with distinction and honor and they come home and try to adjust back to civilian life,” she said.

Joshua Fletcher, Cadet Battalion Commander of UT’s ROTC program, described the struggles that a veteran endures after leaving the military.

Fletcher, who will leave in a few months for active duty as a U.S. Army military intelligence officer, said he is “honored” to become a veteran.

“Above all else . . . it is important to know that the veterans of America are human beings,” he said. “Bleeds, cries, hurts, love, feels, yes they still have fears, yes they still wish.”