Broadview University honors its own on Veterans Day—dedicating a ceremony and serving cake to those who proudly served. Veterans in attendance represented the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Marine Corps.
(MERIDIAN) Broadview University honored its own on Veterans Day by celebrating Military Appreciation Day. Military students roughly comprise 25 percent of Broadview University-Boise’s overall population. To honor their service, on Monday, Nov. 12, the campus held a ceremony for its many students, faculty, and staff members who proudly served our country.
Several people gathered in the campus’s lobby to take part in the celebration. Each veteran in attendance stood before the crowd—stating their military branch and length of service. The veterans present represented the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
The ceremony, which coincided with the Marine Corps 237th birthday, was led by the campus’s self-proclaimed oldest veteran, Tim Thorson. Thorson, who is a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and the campus’s Information Technology program chair, brought his service sword and told a short story about the weapon’s history.
Information Technology Chair Tim Thorson led BVU’s Veterans Day ceremony. The retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel brought his service sword and told a story about the weapon’s history. He and Sunday Sunderlin, a Navy veteran and student in the Veterinary Technology program, then used the sword to cut the cake
“This sword has been adapted over the years, but it is the oldest, most continuously used weapon in the armed forces today,” Thorson said.
The famous sword, called a Mameluke, became part of Marine Corps history during the Battle of Tripoli in the early 1800’s. It went on to become part of the officer uniform in 1825, and has been used ever since.
Following the history lesson, Thorson used the ceremonial sword to cut the cake. In keeping with military tradition, the youngest veteran in attendance, Sunday Sunderlin, was honored with the first piece. Sunderlin is a Navy veteran and a student in the Veterinary Technology program.
After the ceremony, veterans’ pictures were taken in front of their service flags—which were borrowed for the special occasion from the Idaho Division of Veterans Services in Boise.
