Happy and Reflective Veterans Day from Dr. Mark A. Brown

Happy and Reflective Veterans Day from Dr. Mark A. Brown

November 11, 2024

Contact: Thonnia Lee, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing

As you take a well-deserved break for Veterans Day, we ask that you reflect in your own way on the fact that at the end of the thank you, parades, and ceremonial activities is: A human being. A person that is willing to sacrifice enough to earn the freedoms that we have all come to expect.

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to raise our families as we see fit; freedom to go and come as we please. Freedoms that in America, we simply are not willing to live without.

We must never forget, that this earned freedom is paid for every day by our Veterans and the families that support them.

We believe in these Freedoms so strongly as a country that we are able, at least for a little while, to set aside our seemingly trivial differences.

Today, we are drawn together by an amazing sense of patriotism and honor - those things that should always bring us together.

I want you to know that we have those Freedoms because of Veterans.

I want to make sure we recognize the service of our Veterans. No matter how long or short a Veteran's service…we simply want to say Thank You…we appreciate the sacrifice that you and your families have made on our behalf.

I know just as you all know that Veterans answered the call, during their lifetime when the nation needed their help. The nation needed Veterans when we secured our freedom from the brutal tyranny of British rule. The nation needed Veterans to preserve the Union during a bloody Civil War; we needed Veterans when the nation called us to European lands to fight with our allies during World Wars I and II; the Nation called us into the cold winters of Korea; and in the hot brutal jungles of Vietnam, and she called us to stare down a Soviet Giant; she called us to end genocide in Kosovo; and yes, she called us when our skyscrapers in New York fell and our Pentagon exploded at the hands of terrorist bombers'.

We must now pledge as a nation to answer the call of Veterans when they need us.

Finally, As you may know, I spent about 7 years of my almost 34 years in the service in the Pentagon and I've made many trips back ever since, including this year. It is an amazing 5-sided building. There is, however, one corridor and escalator that never ceases to catch my attention.

If you enter through the River Entrance and immediately go up the flight of stairs, you will see my favorite painting at the top. The painting has a family kneeling at an altar in what appears to be a period of prayer. In fact, it depicts the family after the husband has been deployed. Above those kneeling is a special sign. It asks a very simple question: Who will go for them?

The painting is obviously a take on the biblical phrase from the book of Isaiah. Precisely it says: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

On this Day in which we Salute our Veterans, I'm humbled and grateful for all who have stood in harm's way so that I, you, and our families and friends may continue to live free. On behalf of a grateful nation, indeed, we salute them and pledge that we will never forget their sacrifices and the families that support them.

Happy and reflective Veterans Day to you all!

Dr. Mark A. Brown
President and CEO
Tuskegee University

© 2024 Tuskegee University

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