This past Monday, Nov. 11, UW- La Crosse celebrated the sacrifice and honor of over 800 veterans and their spouses. Sponsored by the Freedom Flight of America and the UW-L athletic department, the veterans were treated to a breakfast along with various speeches and commencements.

Lending their own service with the ceremony and breakfast, Freedom Honor Flight succeeds in encapsulating the human experience through their only mission: to fly and help escort veterans to locations and venues where memorials stand in their honor.

For the third annual year, Freedom Flight of America helped the breakfast become another proud moment in UW-L history as student athletes and ROTC members welcomed and served the veterans. Not only there to thank the veteran’s for all of their honor and bravery, these students who assisted the breakfast showed the surrounding community that UW-L treats every person as a family member, helping out when and where they can.

During the ceremony and breakfast, several members of the community spoke, one such member being UW-L’s very own Chancellor Joe  Gow.

Gow reflected on the day saying,,“It was wonderful to see so many members of our Athletic Department—student athletes, coaches and staff—coming out to help honor our veterans. What a proud day for UW-L!”

Gow also sent out a campus wide e-mail on Veteran’s Day, giving deeper thought and meaning to the day for students and faculty to reflect on.

“Because of their extraordinary sacrifices we all enjoy the freedom to have the kind of university where we can debate different points of view and search openly for the truth,” he wrote.

Honoring and saluting the veteran’s for their dedicated service truly reveals the importance of the day where “we can take a moment on this special day to express our gratitude.”

Expressing thankfulness or appreciation to anyone can sometimes prove to be a difficult matter.

Yet, with events such as a large, community breakfast, the true thankfulness and honor can be seen.

Senior student Peter Hernandez noted, “Seeing the smiles and honor on the veterans’ faces really puts the day into perspective.”

Of course, many citizens across the nation feel gratitude and thankfulness for a veteran’s service. But to truly pause and contemplate their sacrifice “allows deeper reflection of what it means to serve in the United States,” continued Peter Hernandez.