The University of Toledo Honors Veterans at 11th-annual appreciation breakfast

The University of Toledo hosted the 11th-annual Veterans Appreciation Breakfast and Resource Fair at the Savage Arena to honor those who have served this country.
Peggy Holewinski, major gifts officer at the American Red Cross, said the Red Cross has collaborated with UT for this event for the past 11 years.
“We needed partners to support it [the fair] and the University of Toledo was fantastic because they were very, very supportive of the project,” Holewinski said.
Samuel McCrimmin, vice president of advancement at UT, announced the opening remarks at this year’s fair.
“It’s vitally important to honor those who have served our country. We’re very grateful for their service,” McCrimmin said. “Second, UT has a veterans program and is certainly very active in military students.”
Also present at the event were some local companies, including the Lucas County Veteran’s Service Commission, American Red Cross and Fifth Third Bank. According to Holewinski, their goal is to be there for those veterans who need them, whether it be for emergency messaging, helping them after they return from deployment or helping with home and family situations.
Holewinski said having multiple agencies under one roof is an opportunity for the vets because they will not have to go to multiple locations.
“I think veterans come because … they’re [the agencies] all right here, and so it’s easily accessible for them,” Holewinski said.The attendance rating each year is strong, with about 400-450 people including family members of military.
One of the attendees was Wesley Jones, a veteran who served from 1961-1963. He said that after dropping out of school at UT, drafting services were able to pick him up quickly.
Jones was drafted into Laos, which started the Vietnam War.
“I was in no war,” Jones said. “Before Vietnam started up, I was drafted into the service.”
This is Jones’ third year at the breakfast and fair; he returns each year to visit with friends and so he can thank those who were able to accomplish what he was unable to during his time.
Richard Grant, a friend of Jones, served from 1965-1967 in the Vietnam War as a launch recruitment and hawk missile outfit in Schoenberg, Germany.
“I was in Schoenberg, Germany for 18 months … Our job was to shoot down low flying, medium-range aircrafts,” Grant said.
While the veterans reminisced about their service, they also voiced their frustration with the treatment received when returning home.
“It’s insane the way they’re treating the vets. The vets are the ones that kept us here — keep us alive and in the states,” Jones said. “Then they come back here and they don’t even know who we are.”
This year’s keynote speaker, Col. Craig Baker, commander of the 180 fighter wing, agreed stating the selfless acts veterans do for their country.
“Understanding the commitment and the service before self, and the essence of the commitment that we make as veterans serving the nation is something that preserves the freedom,” Baker said.
Baker said that for him, servicing veterans came with its own rewards.
“It’s really humbling for me to stand up… and honor men and women not only for the service that they have made, and the sacrifices they have made for this country,” Baker said. “But for the service they continually do in the future.”