{"id":66272,"date":"2012-09-26T10:00:45","date_gmt":"2012-09-26T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=66272"},"modified":"2015-09-23T14:14:37","modified_gmt":"2015-09-23T18:14:37","slug":"connecticut-veterans-wartime-service-medal-presented-at-avery-point-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2012\/09\/connecticut-veterans-wartime-service-medal-presented-at-avery-point-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal Presented at Avery Point Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Linda<\/a>
Linda S. Swartz, left, commissioner, Connecticut Department of Veterans\u0080\u0099 Affairs, awards a Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal to Joseph Brubaker, an adjunct faculty member in political science, during a ceremony held at the Avery Point campus on Sept. 24. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a ceremony recognizing their service to their country, two dozen individuals were presented with the Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal at the Avery Point campus on Sept. 24.<\/p>\n

Those receiving the honor included students, faculty, and staff from Avery Point who have served in the armed forces while the United States has been engaged in various conflicts abroad.<\/p>\n

\"Linda<\/a>
Linda S. Swartz, commissioner, Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, speaks during the Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal award ceremony. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her remarks to those assembled on the lawn overlooking Long Island Sound, Linda S. Schwartz, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Veteran\u2019s Affairs, noted that Connecticut\u2019s commitment to its veterans dates back to the Civil War.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were the first state in the Union to have a veterans home to care for those who had served their country,\u201d she said, \u201cand [President] Lincoln\u2019s second inaugural address in which he said, \u2018With malice toward none, with charity for all \u2026 let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation\u2019s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan \u2026\u2019 harkens directly back to our State\u2019s commitment to those who serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as if President Lincoln was talking about us,\u201d Schwartz said, \u201cand we continue to live up to his pledge to care for the men and women of this state who wear their uniforms with pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/a>
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney ’78 JD speaks during the Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal award ceremony. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Second District Congressman Joseph Courtney, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, noted that Connecticut\u2019s veterans are part of the fabric that makes this state special and, he said, \u201cAs we draw down our troops in Afghanistan, it is so important that we as a state take every opportunity to pay homage to the people who have put their [right] hands up and pledged their service to their Country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal is awarded to Connecticut residents who have served during times of conflict, from World War I to the present. While some of those present were Connecticut natives, others came to know the state because of their time in the service.<\/p>\n

Ryan Meldrum, a native of Hillsboro, N.J., was based in Groton on the submarine USS Alexandria. He fell in love with the area, and upon his discharge decided to make southeastern Connecticut his home. He is now a senior in UConn\u2019s Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) program, majoring in political science.<\/p>\n

Ian Morrison was in the U.S. Army when he served during the first Gulf War. He returned from active duty and completed a degree in coastal studies at Avery Point. He is now back as a BGS student focusing on American history.<\/p>\n

Both spoke of the value of Connecticut\u2019s tuition waver for returning veterans, and the opportunities that are presented with a chance to return to school for additional education.<\/p>\n

In honoring the veterans present, Lt. Col. Kristopher E. Perry, commander of the AFROTC detachment in Storrs, said UConn is a special place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis university, in all its locations, supports veterans,\u201d Perry said. \u201cThere are programs at Storrs and at all the regional campuses that make veterans feel welcome and part of the family. This is true within the faculty and staff, and especially with students. It\u2019s all around us \u2026 with the University website welcoming vets, the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Disabled Veterans \u2026 I can say with certainty that this university values and cherishes the veterans\u2019 presence on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtney, in his remarks, summed it up, saying, \u201cUConn \u2018gets it\u2019 when it comes to valuing those who serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campus director Michael Alfultis, a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard who was slated to receive a Service Medal, was absent. However, he sent his greetings to his fellow veterans through Perry. He said, \u201cTo the veterans here today, Avery Point is a better campus by your presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry explained that Alfultis had a good reason for missing the ceremony. He was in North Carolina to wish his son happy birthday and to congratulate him upon his graduation from combat skills school. The younger Alfultis, said Perry, \u201cwill be heading off to conduct his nation\u2019s business \u2026 and taking care of the nation\u2019s business is what this ceremony is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of the faculty, staff, and student body were honored for their service to their country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":66184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[56],"class_list":["post-66272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 05:19:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66272"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66279,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66272\/revisions\/66279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/66184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66272"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=66272"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=66272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}