10.23.2009
The keynote speaker will be Rear Admiral Anthony E. Gaiani of Great Lakes Naval Base. The Great Lakes Naval Base will also provide a band and a color guard for the ceremony, which is being sponsored by the CLC Student Activities Program Board.
Gaiani was an instructor and commander during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also served in Naples Italy, while assigned as the Air Operations officer to Naval Striking and Support Forces, Southern Europe, and as Defense Plans to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, in Mons, Belgium, both NATO commands. Gaiani commanded Naval Base Coronado, which was recognized by the President’s ‘Commander in Chief’s Award for Installation Excellence’ as the best base in the Navy. Gaiani has accumulated more than 3,000 hours and more than 800 arrested landings.
His personal awards include the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal for valor (two awards) the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for valor and various campaign and unit awards. He is a graduate of the Naval War College’s non-resident seminar program.
Other speakers include Army veteran Mitch Bienvenue, interim director of Client Solutions, CLC Workforce and Professional Development Institute, and Jeremy Bell, a student veteran. The wreath bearers will be Neil Wolfe and Anthony Thatcher, National Guard student veterans, and Benjamin Vanbogelen, U.S. Marines.
A group of veterans from the VA nursing home and military personnel from Naval Station Great Lakes will be transported to the CLC Veterans Day Ceremony, an outing organized by the Willow Lake Veterans Memorial committee, chaired by Wayne Maczko. Transportation is being donated by Olson Transportation/Midwest Motor Coach of Gurnee, with food donated by Somethings Brewing of Grayslake.
Veterans Memorial Update
The Willow Lake Veterans Memorial features the seals of all five branches of the U.S. military, three flagpoles, 3,000 tribute bricks and two benches. A life-sized bronze sculpture depicting a member of the Armed Forces paying his respects at the grave marker of a fallen hero remains to be added to the site. Donations of tribute bricks will finance the cost of casting the statue. Tribute bricks may be purchased for $50 for one or $125 for three. To order a brick or make a tax deductible contribution, contact the College of Lake County Foundation at (847) 543-2901 or visit Vets.
Nov. 10: CLC sponsors annual Veterans Day Ceremony
The College of Lake County’s annual Veterans Day Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 10, in room C 005 (C Wing Auditorium) on the Grayslake campus, beginning at noon. The ceremony is free and open to the public and recognizes CLC faculty, staff and students who are veterans of the armed forces.The keynote speaker will be Rear Admiral Anthony E. Gaiani of Great Lakes Naval Base. The Great Lakes Naval Base will also provide a band and a color guard for the ceremony, which is being sponsored by the CLC Student Activities Program Board.
Gaiani was an instructor and commander during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also served in Naples Italy, while assigned as the Air Operations officer to Naval Striking and Support Forces, Southern Europe, and as Defense Plans to the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, in Mons, Belgium, both NATO commands. Gaiani commanded Naval Base Coronado, which was recognized by the President’s ‘Commander in Chief’s Award for Installation Excellence’ as the best base in the Navy. Gaiani has accumulated more than 3,000 hours and more than 800 arrested landings.
His personal awards include the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal for valor (two awards) the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for valor and various campaign and unit awards. He is a graduate of the Naval War College’s non-resident seminar program.
Other speakers include Army veteran Mitch Bienvenue, interim director of Client Solutions, CLC Workforce and Professional Development Institute, and Jeremy Bell, a student veteran. The wreath bearers will be Neil Wolfe and Anthony Thatcher, National Guard student veterans, and Benjamin Vanbogelen, U.S. Marines.
A group of veterans from the VA nursing home and military personnel from Naval Station Great Lakes will be transported to the CLC Veterans Day Ceremony, an outing organized by the Willow Lake Veterans Memorial committee, chaired by Wayne Maczko. Transportation is being donated by Olson Transportation/Midwest Motor Coach of Gurnee, with food donated by Somethings Brewing of Grayslake.
Veterans Memorial Update
The Willow Lake Veterans Memorial features the seals of all five branches of the U.S. military, three flagpoles, 3,000 tribute bricks and two benches. A life-sized bronze sculpture depicting a member of the Armed Forces paying his respects at the grave marker of a fallen hero remains to be added to the site. Donations of tribute bricks will finance the cost of casting the statue. Tribute bricks may be purchased for $50 for one or $125 for three. To order a brick or make a tax deductible contribution, contact the College of Lake County Foundation at (847) 543-2901 or visit Vets.