A Veterans Day ceremony, held at the Veteran’s Peace Memorial in the Free Speech area of Fresno City College on Nov. 4, honored all military men and women, paying a special tribute to the military support services personnel of the armed forces.
Lt. Jason DiPinto, son of FCC’s Student Activities office assistant, Valerie DiPinto, gave the keynote speech. DiPinto is a member of the Chaplain Corps of the U.S. Navy and is currently serving on the USS BonHomme Richard in San Diego. He said he arrived a day before the ceremony and was happy to come home for the event.
“I like it here. This is where I grew up; this is my home town. There’s always a level of comfort being here that you don’t get anywhere else,” DiPinto said. “It’s a real honor to be here, both for the Veterans Day celebration and just to spend time with family and friends.”
The ceremony began with bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” followed by raising of the colors by the Fresno Police Department Color Guard. The Fresno FCC City Singers then sang the national anthem.
“We’d been working on this piece and [we were] excited to sing it for everyone,” said Marci Maxwell, one of the City Singers. Maxwell said the group has been working on the national anthem since September.
Each year, the Veteran’s Day ceremony honors a particular group within the military. The honored group this year is the military support services, said Mary Alfieris, chair of the FCC Veterans Memorial Committee. This is including, but not limited to, technicians, auto-mechanics, office personnel, the chaplains, medics and nurses.
In his speech, DiPinto mentioned that the most decorated members of the military are the hospital corpsmen. He paid a special tribute to the veterans who are a part of support services, as well as all veterans of all branches and careers within the military. He said, “The men and women who serve our nation need our support.”
DiPinto said that speaking in the ceremony is “an honor for any officer enlisted personnel in the service.”
Valerie DiPinto, who was a part of the committee that put the event on, said she was very proud of her son. “I was very proud of what he had to say,” she said. “I think the ceremony went fabulous.”
Towards the end of the ceremony, Valerie Salcedo, Miss Fresno County 2011, sang “God Bless America.”
“It went well. I’m very honored to be a part of it,” said Salcedo, who said she feels strongly about honoring veterans because her cousin is currently serving in Afghanistan. “Being a part of stuff like this is such an honor.”
Refreshments were served by the FCC café after the ceremony.
“Our dedication to the veterans is very strong,” said Alfieris. “The importance of the veterans and their service to our country cannot be undervalued.” Alfieris also runs the veterans office on campus. “We feel that it’s our responsibility to make the community and the campus aware of the service and the sacrifice that our veterans have made for us.”
FCC Army ROTC Military Science Instructor, Michael Roman, was a part of the crew that helped set the event up. “Our main goal out here was to clean the memorial and make sure it looked nice and good,” said Roman. “We got a great staff of people that put a lot of time and effort into it, and it shows.”
Veteran Attendee Agustin Cano of the Army said, “I love it. I’ve been here for the last five years in a row. Every year is pretty good.” Cano went into service in 1967.
The ceremony site displayed a model of the Sea Wolf, a submarine with only three of its kind. They were built in 1989 and were expensive to build due to their combination of both stealth and combat capabilities. Every year, this model is brought by the submarine veterans.
Jim Van Vranken, one of the submarine veterans, served in the US Navy for eight years on four different submarines as an electrician. He has also attended every FCC Veterans Day ceremony for the past five years. “I make a special point to come here,” said Vranken.
The first time Van Vranken attended, the Submarine Veterans were being honored. At the time, he was commander and got to be the speaker.
As a part of the chaplain corps, the duties of this year’s speaker include providing religious services to people within his faith group, facilitating religious services for people of different faith groups, providing care for those of all or no faith backgrounds, and advising the chain of command on the impact of religion on operations.
“Our main goal is to take care of the service members through spiritual and emotional support and to advise the military on how religion and religious activity effects what they do,” said DiPinto.
Lt. DiPinto, currently serving on the U.S.S. BonHomme Richard which is scheduled for a hull-swap to Japan, emphasized that his attendance as the speaker was not for himself or the ceremony, but for those who have served and continue to serve.
“Veterans day celebrations are probably one of the most important things that our country can do, because whether service members are actively engaged in the military, or whether they’re retired former service members, their experiences define who they are,” said Lt. DiPinto, “With all the different things going on in our country, with economic challenges and political challenges, if we don’t take time and remember what they’ve done and honor what they’ve done, those types of things can easily slip into the background.”