GREENEVILLE – As the nation honors those who were in the military, Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison is asking that people in this region take into account three qualities: quality, service and price.
Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison speaks at the Veterans Day event at Tusculum University.
Morrison was the keynote speaker at Tusculum University’s Veterans Day ceremony Friday, Nov. 8, in the Thomas J. Garland Library. He delivered a moving tribute to veterans and their sacrifices on behalf of their fellow Americans and saluted a special member of the audience – Arthur Ricker, who landed on Utah Beach during D-Day and was part of the liberation forces at Dachau concentration camp.
“Today, like all the countless veterans gathered here, and those quietly living and working in our community all around us, I was, and remain, very proud of my service to my country,” Morrison said.
Following his Army service, Morrison was a pharmaceutical salesman and then worked for a biotech company headquartered in California. He said principles of quality, service and price in sales also apply to Veterans Day.
To highlight quality, he talked about Patrick Tillman, a National Football League player who gave up his career to join the Army and serve in the 2nd Ranger battalion. Tillman was killed in duty.
“The veterans I have met throughout my lifetime are America’s finest sons and daughters,” Morrison said. “They are red, white and blue patriots from across this great land who have answered the call and continue to answer the call to serve something greater than themselves. These extraordinary people sign up to serve for largely one reason – to continue to make America the beacon of freedom that is has been for more than 243 years and the envy of the world.”
Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison, left, poses with Arthur Ricker at the Veterans Day event at Tusculum University.
The service of those in the military enables people in the United States to enjoy the life they lead in freedom, he said.
“That feeling is the unmistakable comfort that comes from the service of others, the service of people like Patrick Tillman, the service rendered to us by all veterans we celebrate today, those veterans that are serving right now and all those that are sacrificing, watching, waiting, guarding, patrolling and protecting you and me and everything that we hold so dear,” Morrison said.
In sales, he said, price is the first thing customers forget if they are satisfied with all other elements of a product. But he said one should always keep that word in mind when it comes to military service.
“Never forget the price, the price that has been paid by all those who offered themselves and their future so that you and I can enjoy the endless fruits of their service and sacrifice,” he said. “Be reminded of the price, oftentimes paid for with breath and blood. Be reminded of the price because the price was high.”
Dr. Andrew Buzzelli, a retired Air Force colonel who now serves executive vice president of Tusculum’s College of Health Sciences and founding dean of the Niswonger College of Optometry, spoke after Morrison and talked about what binds all veterans. He learned that from the service of many veterans who helped in Manhattan in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
Dr. Andrew Buzzelli, executive vice president of Tusculum University’s College of Health Sciences and founding dean of the Niswonger College of Optometry, speaks at the Veterans Day event at Tusculum University.
“I found out that the one thing that veterans have in common is they are fearless,” Dr. Buzzelli said. “No matter what you do, no matter what you throw at a veteran, they’re fearless. They will face fear every time.”
During Friday’s event, Kathy Hipps, the library’s director, read “Thank a Veteran: A Veterans Day poem” written by an unknown author. It concludes, “They unselfishly and knowingly put their lives on the line, so when you see a veteran, thank them because without them, freedom would have died.”