Students and Employees honored at Veterans Day Recognition Ceremony

By Victoria Brown

Dr. Tracy D. Hall with student and employee veterans at the
Veteran Employee and Student Appreciation and
Recognition ceremony on Nov. 11, 2024.

Southwest Tennessee Community College honored those who have served in the armed forces at the Veteran Employee and Student Appreciation and Recognition ceremony on Nov. 11, 2024.

The event, held on Southwest’s Macon Cove Campus, featured a welcome speech by Veterans Affairs Coordinator Corey Stewart, and included remarks by keynote speakers President Dr. Tracy D. Hall and Sindy Abadie, associate professor of Business & Legal Studies at Southwest.

“Veterans Day is a day for us to pause and reflect on the sacrifices veterans have made, the challenges they continue to overcome and the courage that they wear proudly,” Stewart said. “They have answered the call of service and still continue to do so.”

John Brassel, associate professor of Business and Legal Studies at Southwest, received the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Chancellor's Commendation for Military Veterans award for his time working in the U.S. Army.

President Tracy D. Hall with John Brassel, Tennessee Board
of Regents’ Chancellor's Commendation for Military
Veterans award recipient.

Brassel was drafted into to U.S. Army in August of 1965, and deployed to serve in an active war in Vietnam. After two years of wartime service, he returned to the U.S. and began pursuing his education. He now has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in business-related fields and has worked in the educational field since 1997.

At the ceremony, Brassel shared what his experience was like during his time in the armed forces. 

“More than two million served in Vietnam and I’m proud to be one of them,” Brassel said. “There are many of my brothers I worked with that did not make it out alive and they never received a thing, so I appreciate this. Thank you.”

Brassel shared that he would not take back or change his time in the armed forces. “The military taught me discipline, accountability, self-reliance, and esprit de corps,” Brassel said.

Abadie, a friend and colleague of Brassel, shared what it has been like to work alongside him.

“I have had the pleasure of calling Brassel a dear friend for almost twenty years,” Abadie said. “We began our careers around the same time and over the years have become like family. He’s very deserving and I know how much today means to him.”

During the ceremony, Dr. Hall thanked Brassel, students, and employees for their service in all sectors of the military.

“Thank you all for your service and your commitment to this country to afford us the freedoms that we all enjoy,” Dr. Hall said.