Veterans Recognition Ceremony
Honors Veterans' Sacrifices and Contributions

By Heather Holliday I November 15, 2004

The 5th Annual Veterans Recognition Ceremony opened with a tribute by the color guard.

The Veterans Association at UCSD hosted the 5th Annual Veterans Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday. The event, called "The Greatest Generation," especially honored World War II veterans. The day's ceremony included a welcome from Chancellor Mary Anne Fox, the honoring of a UCSD Vietnam veteran and inspiring stories of a number of World War II veterans.

The day was a way to "recognize the contributions that veterans have made not only to the nation and the state of California, but more specifically to UCSD and higher education," said Nick Aguilar, chair of the Veterans Association at UCSD.

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox welcomes everyone to the ceremony and emphasizes the importance of honoring veterans.

The UCSD Veteran of the Year Recognition Award went to Mark Elder, a Vietnam Veteran who dedicated more than 20 years to the Navy and Navy Reserves.

Now a producer/director for the media services department, Elder accepted the plaque and told an emotional story about a Vietnam Vet who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, after giving his life to save others. "His father took his Medal of Honor to the guys who were mixing the concrete [for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington D.C.]," he said. "He asked if he could put his son's ribbon in the concrete. To the end of the earth that Medal of Honor will remain embedded in the concrete that supports [all the guys' names] that died."

Keynote speaker Ralph Kling shares the trials he encountered as a pilot during World War II.

Ralph Kling, the keynote speaker who was a pilot in World War II, told the story of being shot down in September 1944 and the subsequent seven months he spent in Germany as a prisoner of war. Currently deputy commander of the San Diego chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War, he said that this group has saved many prisoners of war's lives. "When we got home we were treated like, 'How come you surrendered?'," he said. "It's kind of hard not to give up at 10,000 feet with your plane on fire."

The ceremony concluded with a short speech by John Finn, who joined the Navy in 1926 and is the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient. Finn, who had made it quite clear that he had enough plaques and certificates, accepted home-baked chocolate chip cookies in lieu of a plaque.

Veterans Association Treasurer Edna Fugazzi presents home-baked cookies to John Finn, the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient.