爆料吃瓜网 honors our (and the nation's) veterans
The Chancellor鈥檚 Veterans Day Celebration, usually a lunch at 爆料吃瓜网-Penn Valley, was a breakfast event at 爆料吃瓜网-Blue River this year (Nov. 10).
爆料吃瓜网 Chancellor Kimberly Beatty at the event
Mike Macias talked about his career in the Navy.
The table centerpieces depicting the six branches of the U.S. military were made by Jen Dec in the Fab Lab, a maker space at 爆料吃瓜网-Penn Valley.
The Truman High School ROTC Color Guard kicked off the 爆料吃瓜网 Veterans Day event.
Speaker Mike Macias, who enjoyed a 21-year career in the U.S. Navy, joined the military because he thought he wouldn鈥檛 have to go to college 鈥� instead, he鈥檇 鈥減lay with guns鈥� and get some exercise. But the Navy promptly put him in school for 2-1/2 years, and at 21 Macias found himself an instructor at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach. He started earning college credit at 26 and just couldn鈥檛 stop: three years ago, Macias (now 54) completed his Ph.D.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l come full circle and realize that an education coupled with your military experience will just bring so much more to your life,鈥� Macias told veterans in the room. He鈥檚 been executive director of the in KC for 15 years.
The latest student veterans to receive the 爆料吃瓜网 Foundation鈥檚 Reggie Helms Memorial Scholarship were announced at the breakfast:
- Melissa Thompson, who served five years in the Navy, is now completing her A.A. at Blue River and Longview.
- Jose Collazo, a Marine Corps veteran, is enrolled in the automotive technology program at Longview.
The Helms scholarship is named for Chancellor Kimberly Beatty鈥檚 father, who served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. One thing on her dad鈥檚 bucket list was to return to Vietnam, and he got to make that trip with her a few years ago. Dr. Beatty said she was able to 鈥渟ee the wartime experience through his eyes.鈥�
Being raised by her mother, she didn鈥檛 always have her father 鈥渞ight there with me,鈥� so visiting Saigon with him was a phenomenal experience, the chancellor said.