Veteran's Day Celebration & Luncheon
Galloway, N.J. – Colonel Yvonne Mays, adjutant general of New Jersey and commissioner of the NJ Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, will return as guest speaker for this year’s Veteran’s Day celebration on Wednesday, Nov. 6, starting at 11 a.m.
Following the celebration in the Campus Center Grand Hall will be a luncheon in the F-wing atrium, where attendees will have the opportunity to browse this year’s newest additions to the Faces of Stockton’s Military Community Photograph Project.
Annual Veterans Day Ceremony Full of Gratitude, Honor
November 10, 2023
Galloway, N.J. – More than 100 years ago, following the tragedies and destruction of World War I, weapons were lowered in order to seek peace at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Today, we commemorate that crucial turning point in world history with celebrations like Nov. 10’s Veterans Day ceremony in the Campus Center Grand Hall, which included the singing of the National Anthem by Lynda Larkin, speeches and a reception that featured the Faces of Stockton’s Military Community Photograph Project.
Guest speaker Col. Yvonne L. Mays, deputy adjutant general for the New Jersey National Guard, discussed her journey from an 18-year-old fresh out of basic training for the Air Force to a proud member of the military community who is dedicated to helping others find opportunities to join what she considers a “thriving environment.”
“My time in uniform has been riddled with ups and downs, success and failure, love and loss, but, more than anything, my time in uniform has afforded me the opportunity to grow and learn, give and receive and lead and follow in a way that I would not have in any other profession,” Mays said, before telling the audience that she first joined the Air Force exclusively for the GI Bill, as college was considered a natural stepping stone. However, she was able to find such stepping stones in military life.
“What I found upon completion of basic military training in my first technical training school is that the Air Force offered me a step-by-step guide of what to do, when to do it, why and how to do it. If that wasn't enough, the reward for compliance or the consequence of failure written in regulation – now referred to as instruction – was a published guide on how to do everything that applied to everyone, regardless of where you came from, your socioeconomic status, race, color, creed, gender, etc. That was an environment that I could thrive in.”
