Local veterans serving as an Honor Guard raise the flag.
Jacob Espinosa/The Lima News
LIMA —A group of people gathered at Rhodes State College on Tuesday to recognize veterans and spread awareness for a special cause.
People like Scott States, a 14-year Ohio Air National Guard veteran and member of the Rhodes Veterans Services Committee, walked 2.2 laps around the quad, following a brief presentation and posting of colors, to stand up for the 22 veterans a day that Veterans Affairs says commit suicide.
“The idea behind it is that we’re trying to make sure that students are aware of resources that are available to them,” States said.
According to Nicole Dittman, who helped organize the event with the Veterans Task Force Committee at Rhodes and emceed it, the college has never put on an event like this before.
“This is our first go-round with this type of event,” she said. “And we hope to make it bigger. This is our pilot and we are hoping to just expand in the future with more community partners and more veterans here today. We’ve had a beautiful turnout with everyone. And the partnerships have just been incredible so far.”
For Bre Ellerbrock, a creative and digital media specialist at Rhodes, the event gave her an important takeaway.
“Something to take away is to not let veterans be forgotten,” she said. “People think, ‘Oh, they were away in the military. So they’ll be fine. They’re strong.’ But with the 2.2 laps representing the 22 suicides a day, that shows some people just need someone to talk to and not to let them be forgotten. Let their story be heard and get that out there.”
States said that it is important also to remember the sacrifices that veterans have made, not just on Veterans Day, but frequently.
“I think that some people take for granted the freedoms that we have, and forget how we got them and that there are many people out there now that are serving to protect those freedoms that we have, but not just what freedom we have, that we support other countries and their ability to have free and fair elections and have a democratic society,” he said. “We do our part to support that across the world. I think people forget that. There are a lot of people that have in the past and are currently serving for those benefits for everybody. People attend services like this or events like this and then that’s forgotten afterward.”
Some walkers chose to walk with a rucksack containing 35 pounds of weight to copy the weight that soldiers carry as they travel.
A group of local veterans was on hand as an Honor Guard to raise the flag. Army Sgt. Crystal Dunlap also sang the National Anthem prior to the walk. Small flags lined the walkways of the quad and a video board played a slideshow tribute featuring veterans in memory.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399
