The national anthem played on the Southern Oregon University campus on Thursday morning as ROTC cadets performed the posting of the colors by carrying flags and placing them into stands.
U.S. Air Force veteran and SOU President Rick Bailey spoke about how grateful he is to everyone who has served.
"I've had the personal privilege of serving with thousands of people in uniform and, to a person, none of them joined up so that they could break things or hurt people. None of them. They did it because they believed in something that was bigger than themselves," he said.
The event鈥檚 keynote speaker was Lt. Col. retired Kirk Mickelsen, an SOU graduate from 1991. He was also a professor of military science at SOU and previously ran the school's ROTC program.
He said he first joined the military in search of travel and adventure.
"But then as I moved on and things changed with time, I started to understand that there was a greater purpose to that. And that greater purpose was an understanding of our Constitution in the United States and what it meant for me as a soldier to defend that Constitution," he said.
Mickelsen said he never knew how to respond when someone would thank him for his service.
"Now I say, 'thank you for your support.' And so just know that as veterans, we appreciate the support of everybody who says 'thank you for your service.' It's deeply appreciated, it's appreciated to me. And it touches us down to our soul," he said.
The event included two minutes of silence to honor those who have served.
The university鈥檚 Veterans Day festivities will continue on Saturday before a home football game with the flyover of an F-15 fighter jet from the Klamath Falls National Guard base and the flyover of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter.
According to a university press release, SOU alumnus and retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Bill Seymour will be the Raiders鈥� guest captain for the coin flip.
In addition, SOU alumnus and U.S. Army Capt. Bruno de Solenni will be honored during halftime. He was killed in action on Sept. 20, 2008, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, while serving as a trainer for the Afghan National Army.
All veterans will be admitted to Saturday's football game for free.