Veterans were honored at UCA’s annual Veterans Day celebration, which included scholarship announcements, a keynote speaker, vendors, live music and free food.
Maj. Gen. Jonathan M. Stubbs gave the keynote address. According to a news release from UCA, “Stubbs has served the Arkansas National Guard for 27 years and has acted in every leadership role within the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
“From 1997 to 2021, he served as Active-Guard reserve. His prolific decorations include the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Valorous Unit Award, Legion of Merit 3rd award, Bronze Star 2nd award and many others.”
During his speech, Stubbs said it is important to honor veterans and quoted President Calvin Coolidge: “A nation that forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.”
Stubbs then spoke about the importance of the National Guard.
“From the American Revolution to current global conflicts, National Guard members and all of our service members have made immense sacrifices, and they continue to do so.
“During World War II, National Guard members made up approximately half of the army, with 350,000 guardsmen called on to active duty,” Stubbs said.
“The National Guard is a vital force, again, serving alongside our brothers and sisters, across all the services providing support to our allies and our partners.
“In fact, our very own 39th Infantry Brigade headquarters, they are in Germany today, and they are training Ukrainian armed forces soldiers to stand up and defend their nation against Russia’s unprovoked aggression,” Stubbs said.
Following his speech, Stubbs did a coin challenge with the veterans in the room.
He asked all of the veterans to stand up and see if they could beat a member who joined the armed forces in 1944.
No one could, so Stubbs looked for the second longest. Stubbs began stating years going backward in time until one person was left standing.
The second-placed veteran joined in 1962.
Scholarships were also rewarded.
This year’s two recipients of the $500 Veterans Day Scholarship were Sergeant William Hardy and Sergeant Jacob Morris.
This year’s recipient of the $1,000 Tidwell Veterans Scholarship is former Marine and current student Nicholas Herring.
Conway Mayor Bart Castleberry gave an update on the Veterans Plaza on Prince Street.
Castleberry said, “If you haven’t had the chance to go by, you go by Poppy Park right off Prince Street next to the Walmart Neighborhood Market and it’s complete. We have two items remaining and that’s the bridges that connect the trail there.”
UCA’s concert choir sang the national anthem and The Bear Necessities Quartet sang the “Service Song Medley” to honor the veterans of the different branches.
The theme of this year’s celebration was legacy, and the event featured more than three dozen exhibitors according to the UCA news release.
ORIGINAL
Keynote Speaker Major General Jonathan M. Stubbs played a game with the audience to see who the two oldest serving members of the military in the audience were.
The master of ceremony for this year’s Veterans Day Celebration was the recently promoted Master Sergeant Casey Miller.
UCA’s concert choir sang the national anthem.
Mayor Bart Castleberry gave an update on the Veterans Plazaon Prince Street.
Castleberry said, “If you haven’t had the chance to go by, you go by Poppy Park right off Prince Street next to the Walmart Neighborhood Market and it’s complete. We have two items remaining and that’s the bridges that connect the trail there.”
This year’s two recipients of the $500 Veterans Day Scholarship were Sergeant William Hardy and Sergeant Jacob Morris.
This year’s recipient of the $1,000 Tidwell Veterans Scholarship is former Marine and current student Nicholas Herring.
Stubbs quoted former President Calvin Coolidge: “A nation that forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.”
Stubbs said it is important to honor veterans every year on Veterans Day.
“From the American Revolution to current global conflicts, National Guard members and all of our service members have made immense sacrifices, and they continue to do so,” Stubbs said.
Stubbs talked about World War II and how the National Guard was involved.
“During World War II, National Guard members made up approximately half of the army, with 350,000 guardsmen called on to active duty. Guard units added 18 infantry divisions, eight separate regiments and 29 Army Air Forces flying squadrons to the nation’s active duty forces,” he said.
Stubbs named all of the different National Guard regiments that aided other branches in World War II.
“There was a National Guard regiment, the North Dakota 164th Infantry, that was the first U.S. Army regiment to fight offensively in World War II. They were sent to Guadalcanal to reinforce the Marine Corps,” he said.
“So to get to our very own Arkansas 206th Coastal Field Artillery and the 153rd Regiment who deployed to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and defended sovereign U.S. territory against Japanese Invasion.”
“The National Guard is a vital force, again, serving alongside our brothers and sisters, across all the services providing support to our allies and our partners. In fact, our very own 39th Infantry Brigade headquarters, they are in Germany today, and they are training Ukrainian armed forces soldiers to stand up and defend their nation against Russia’s unprovoked aggression,” Stubbs said.
Lastly, Stubbs did a coin challenge with the veterans in the room.
He asked all of the veterans to stand up and see if they could beat Brantley, who joined the armed forces in 1944.
No one could, so Stubbs looked for the second longest.
Stubbs started naming off years going backward in time, until one person was left standing.
The second-placed veteran joined in 1962.
The Bear Necessities Quartet sang the “Service Song Medley” to honor the veterans of the different branches.
Before the end of the celebration, Stubbs gave a challenge coin to each member of the quartet.
