Although more than five decades have passed since Kline served — first in World War II for the Navy and then for the Army in the Korean War — the principles of the military have not changed, he said.

“This is just as if I were attending a ceremony 50 years ago,” Kline said. “I’m closer to the people in the military than I am anybody else.”

The ceremony began at the chapel where cadets commemorated Michigan veterans who were killed or missing in action.

Computer engineering senior James Hunter addressed his fellow cadets, speaking about prisoners of war and soldiers who went missing in action.

“It takes a rare, unique breed of person to put their name on the dotted line and fight for what they believe in,” Hunter said.

“We never truly grasp the impact they have had on the United States. … Make no mistake — they are heroes.”

With the first snow showers of the year letting up and the sun momentarily showing through the clouds, the cadets marched from the chapel on Auditorium Road to the front of the Administration Building, where the flags were retired by the detachment’s color guard.

Veterans Day is treated as highly as Thanksgiving and Christmas in Dylan Saint Marie’s family, a student at Western Michigan University who is a member of the detachment at MSU.

Saint Marie’s father was a pilot in the Navy for eight years and his brother is a pilot currently deployed in Afghanistan.

“That’s one of the holidays we definitely value,” Saint Marie said. Tomorrow, he plans to talk to
his brother via Skype, a privilege he gets only once or twice every few months, he said.

Mathematics freshman Olivia Feldpausch, an Air Force ROTC member, plans to spend tomorrow with her father, who was in the Marine Corps for 23 years.

“I would be willing to give my life for my country,” Feldpausch said. “If that’s part of the job, I’ve accepted that.”