Young urges Culver students to engage with veterans, ask them their stories

Eric Young ’89, who retired as an Army colonel last month after more than three decades of service, urged Culver Academies students to talk with veterans and ask them about their military service.

“As a Culver student, don’t be satisfied with telling a veteran ‘Thank you for your service,’ ” he said during the Veterans Day ceremony on Monday. “Rather, be that which Culver is preparing you for and reach for more. When presented with the opportunity, engage with a veteran whether on campus or elsewhere. Ask them to tell you their story, and hear what he or she has to say before their story is gone for good. You’ll be surprised by what you may learn.”

The ceremony Monday can be viewed here.

He told the students that while they all know the stories of Culver’s five Medal of Honor recipients, there are thousands of other veterans, men and women, who quietly served their nation whose “names and stories are now at best, a shadow of a memory in the annals of our history.”

“While they may never have asked for nor expected recognition, it remains our academy’s esteemed duty to not just honor their service and sacrifice but to keep their stories alive for our current and future students,” he said.

Young has quite a story of his own to tell.

After graduating from Culver in 1989, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the ROTC when he graduated from Purdue University. He initially served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard.

After graduating from Marquette University law school, he served 27 years in active duty in the Army, serving around the globe with assignments in Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan.

As a judge advocate, he often served in the heart of combat zones, playing a crucial role in operational planning and working directly with commanders to review mission details to make sure every decision complied with U.S. and international law.

His last assignment was deputy legal advisor with the National Security Council at the White House. He also served as the senior legal counsel for the Four-Star Commander for all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and the senior legal counsel for the Four-Star European Commander and as the deputy legal counsel for the U.S. Pacific Command.

His honors include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with Combat Device, three awards of the Legion of Merit and three Bronze Medal awards.

Young told the students it was great to be back at Culver Academies, saying the last time he was at the school for Veterans Day was as a senior in 1988. He said several of his Class of ’89 classmates also returned for the ceremony on Monday.

“I can honestly say that since then I have seen or been part of few ceremonies as poignant as this one,” he said. “Now, as my Army career has ended, it’s good to be back at Culver, where it all started.”

Young gave the students a brief history lesson on Veterans Day, telling them that it originally was known as “Armistice Day” because it marked the end of World War I on the 11^th hour on the 11^th day of the 11^th month.

“That day in 1918 was a celebration and mourning. A devastating war had ended, but it resulted in more than 9 million military and an estimated 8 million civilian deaths and devastation across Europe and parts of the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific,” Young said. “It was so horrific, many referred to it as the war to end all wars, which we have since learned was not the case.”

He said the United States initially recognized Armistice Day in 1920 and in 1954, following World War II and the Korean War, it was officially changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all who had served in defense of our nation.

Young told the students that on that first Armistice Day, the corps of cadets held a parade, the artillery battery fired a salute and Col. Leigh R. Gignilliat gave a speech on the significance of the occasion.

He said that was fitting because more than 3,500 Culver cadets had served in the military during that war, including 59 Americans and three from other countries who were killed in the war.

That led to the construction of the Legion Memorial Building to recognize those who died and those who had served “and to provide a place where families could remember their lost sons,” Young said.

“To that end, the Legion Memorial Building was dedicated on Nov. 2, 1924, one hundred years ago last week,” he said.

He told students that’s when Culver began its annual ceremony to honor and remember its veterans.

He said The Vedette, Culver’s student newspaper, quoted E.R. Culver, son of Culver founder Henry H. Culver, as saying the school’s role in World War I began with the school’s founding when it began educating and training young men.

“It has constantly sought to develop and nurture in the hearts of all who came, that love of country, courage, tolerance and common justice, which are, in themselves, the bedrock of democracy and civilization,” the article reads.

The article said that when the war began, nearly every eligible man connected to Culver left to join the war, including 39 faculty members. Those who were left volunteered for double duty.

“Since that dedication, Culver alumni, faculty and staff, men and women, have continued to answer their nation’s call, to uphold the ideals of our constitution, fully understanding that freedom truly is not free,” he said.