St. John’s Community Celebrates Veterans in Campus Ceremony

St. John’s University welcomed veterans from neighborhoods near the Queens, NY, campus and beyond on November 9 when it hosted its annual Veterans Day Luncheon in the D’Angelo Center ballroom. 

Veterans of the US Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy joined active-duty military and members of the Army ROTC Red Storm Battalion in a celebration of their service ahead of the federal Veterans Day holiday on November 11. A special salute was reserved for late US Navy veteran Michael P. Honan ’68ED, ’74M.B.A., a longtime advocate for veterans in the Rockaway, NY, community and former commander of the Daniel M. O’Connell American Legion Post #272.

“My husband Mike was a proud veteran and very proud of his service,” Michael Honan’s widow, Fran Honan, said. “He truly believed veterans should be honored not just once or twice a year, but every day. Mike would have appreciated this ceremony.”   

Mr. Honan earned a bachelor’s degree from The School of Education at St. John’s before joining the Navy in the late 1960s. After his 1970 discharge, he earned a master’s degree in management while working for the New York City Department of Social Services and enlisting in the Navy Reserve. He rose to the rank of captain before retiring in 1996. 

As commander of the Daniel M. O’Connell American Legion Post #272, Mr. Honan led the Rockaway area’s Memorial Day Parade and Veterans Day ceremony each year. He was also  active in the preserving and maintaining  a veterans memorial in the Rockaway community.

“Mike truly felt that being in the military was a life of service,” Fran Honan said. “He was always available to encourage young people interested in joining the military.”  

The annual Veterans Day luncheon was organized by Michele Chung, Director, Office of Parent and Family Connections and of the Veterans Success Center; and Paul Lazauskas ’01CCPS, ’08M.B.A., Associate Director, Office of Alumni Relations. Mr. Lazauskas’ welcome included a salute to all veterans in the nation’s 250th year.

“For two and a half centuries, America has stood for freedom, opportunity, and individual liberty,” he said. “These founding principles have endured because generations of Americans, including those here, have been willing to defend them.”  

After members of the Red Storm Battalion’s color guard presented the nation’s colors, Army veteran Norman Jardine ’69SJC, ’73M.B.A. led the room in a singing of the National Anthem. Army veteran Aleksandar Dikov, a junior studying health and human services at The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies (CCPS), then led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Edward Nusser ’78M.S.Ed., of Flushing, NY, an Army veteran who served in postwar Korea and later became a New York City teacher, appreciated the tribute. “I owe a lot to the military and to St. John’s University,” he said. “I always have good feelings about St. John’s and how it respects veterans.”

Veterans gathered to reconnect with former friends. Many shared stories of their deployments around the world, including Dominick Palestino of Stewart Manor, NY, who served in an armored division of the Army in Berlin, West Germany, from 1957 to 1962. 

At the height of the Cold War, he often found himself staring down tanks from the Soviet Union. “For a young man, it was very scary,” Mr. Palestino recalled. “You would drive down one street, they would drive down another, and you would meet in the middle.”    

Steven Hargett of Bellerose, NY, served on a Navy destroyer off Vietnam from 1969 to 1973. Veterans Day will always be special because “many people gave their lives in service to the country,” he said. “Wearing the uniform was a source of pride for me and for all of us.” 

Ms. Chung said St. John’s 272 student veterans are an integral part of the fabric of the University. The Veterans Success Center supports them through networking opportunities and transition assistance, including mentoring, tutoring, housing assistance, and career services. The University also offers potential academic credit for military experience and participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, which provides financial assistance to veterans for tuition and fees not covered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

St. John’s also offers several scholarship and financial aid opportunities for military veterans and first-responders. In March, the University was again recognized as a Military Friendly® college year by VIQTORY, a Pennsylvania-based company that connects newly separated veterans with professional and educational opportunities.

“Transitioning from military life to civilian and academic life can present unique challenges,” Ms. Chung said. “But our center is here to help you navigate those transitions and ensure you are never alone in this community.”  

Lt. Col. Matthew Pride, Professor of Military Science at CCPS and leader of the Red Storm Battalion, echoed Ms. Chung’s thoughts, adding that his 21 years as an Army officer have led him to rethink the definition of leadership. “Leadership is love,” Lt. Col. Pride said. “Love is a sacrifice, and as we hear from sacred texts, there is no greater act of love than to lay your life willingly for a friend.”  

The Veterans Day luncheon coincided with St. John’s first-ever Boots on the Ground display outside of Marillac Hall near Chiang Ching-Kuo Hall and University Career Services. Student veterans donated used military boots as a tribute, offering the University community an opportunity to learn more about the service members who wore them. The display runs through November 19.

Passersby can scan a QR code to learn more about individual student veterans. Aleksandar, who served for eight years in an Army field artillery regiment, imagined the idea and donated his boots.

“Together, boots, his weapon, and a service member’s dog tags serve as a memorial to those who have died,” Aleksandar explained. “But I wanted to do a tribute to living student veterans at St. John’s and what the military gave me in my life.”