Ten Years Later, LSC Vets Still Remember

The room was tense.

The tragedy of 9/11 can be hard for many Americans to talk about, but for those affected directly by the attacks or the consequent events, it strikes an even closer cord. So when I asked the Lyndon State Veterans Club to reflect on the tenth anniversary, the room was filled with sentiment. 

"Right after 9/11 there was a caricature in the paper of a firemen handing a flag off to a solider, saying ‘You can take it from here,' and I believe we have," Mark Hoffman, president of the Lyndon State Veterans Club said emotionally when asked how he felt ten years later.

"I was pissed," Chad Abbott, a veteran and member of the club, said about his initial reaction to the attacks, "but I feel like I've done what I can."  Abbott believes that due to amped up security and a greater education of the American people about the Middle East Americans are safer today than they were ten years ago.

Matt Wells, a veteran and a student in the Exercise Science program, was inspired to join shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Wells would agree with Abbott's view of Americans, saying that since 9/11,"Americans are more aware that there are bad people in this world."  

After 9/11, the United States started military operations in Afghanistan. Ten years later, there is still a military presence. 

"When you ask people ‘was [the war] worth it', you have to understand that this is their job," Allison Poulin, a Mountain Recreation Management senior and Coast Guard veteran stated. "They wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't worth it to them."

Denis Querrard, a senior at LSC and new vice president of the club, believes the conflict in Afghanistan has been successful because we found Osama Bin Laden, but has mixed feelings about Iraq,  "We served a purpose. Was it good or bad? That's going to be up to historians and future generations."

There will be three events this Sunday, September 11, on the LSC campus. At 11 a.m. there will be a moment of silence in the Student Center led by Sen. Joe Benning. Later at 1 p.m. there will be an afternoon of service at the Alexander Twilight Theater. The days events will culminate in a candlelight vigil by the Library Pond at 8 p.m., where Hoffman will say a few words.

The Lyndon State Veterans Club is open to all Lyndon State students who have an interest in supporting veterans. The next meeting is tentatively September 22. Anyone with questions can email club secretary Elizabeth.Harrison@lyndonstate.edu or president Mark.Hoffman@lyndonstate.edu.