UM-Flint Observes Veterans Day 2014

The 2014 observance of Veterans Day at the University of Michigan-Flint will kick off with the return of the breakfast and ceremony in the University Center's Michigan Rooms at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 11.

The Michigan VFW Honor Guard from Detroit, the current National Drill Team Champions, will again be presenting the colors to start the ceremony. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the UM-Flint chorale and chamber singers under the direction of Joshua May, PhD will present the national anthem and other patriotic songs during the program.

Dan Salazar of the Veterans Day Ceremony Committee says the speaker this year is retired Army Colonel Robert L. Swartwood. He is the founder and senior member of the Clio Law Center. Swartwood, a combat veteran, served for almost 42 years and was stationed in locations around the globe. He served in both the infantry and military police. He currently serves on the Clio Veterans Park board and is also a member of the task force to develop a Veterans' Court.

The ceremony will conclude with the playing of Taps by Tom Johnson and the retiring of the colors by the Honor Guard.

Following the UM-Flint ceremony, guests are invited to join an 11:00 a.m. ceremony sponsored by the Friends of McFarlan Memorial Park. The park, with its perpetual flame, is dedicated to all Genesee County service men and women who have given their lives in wars from the Spanish-American War to present day battles. It was Flint's first park established in 1875, and in 1951 was designated as the Genesee County War Memorial. The park is located directly across Saginaw Street from the Northbank Center (NBC).