Thank You to the Men and Women of the U.S. Armed Forces

Veterans of the United States Armed Forces work every day to ensure the freedoms that we all enjoy continue to be the freedoms that we enjoy. It is sometimes a thankless and difficult job – with service men and women putting their lives on the line to help keep this country great.

On this Veterans Day the University of Arkansas extends a thank you to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces for their service. This thank you comes in the form of a video that has been posted on YouTube and distributed to military units across the state of Arkansas.

“I think we can all agree that the American armed forces are the greatest military power in human history,” said University of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart, speaking during the opening event of Veterans Week on campus. “The men and women who serve our country make incredible, and in many ways incomprehensible, sacrifices. I don’t think we as civilians can ever fully appreciate what they’ve endured unless we’ve been in their shoes.”

In addition to posting the video on YouTube and sending it directly to the troops, the video will be shown at tonight’s Razorback Basketball game and then again at Saturday’s Razorback football game against Tennessee.

The idea for doing a video thank you to our veterans came from an undergraduate student who is also a veteran. Paul Williams, a broadcast journalism major who served in the United States Air Force, thought the troops would enjoy a nice thank you from home. Paul approached Gearhart and Danny Pugh, vice provost for student affairs, about his idea.

The project was discussed in a meeting with Williams, assistant athletic director Brian Pracht, Pugh, Erika Gamboa, director of veterans resources and information center; Scott Flanagin, director of communications for student affairs; and his small team of video producers and designers, known as UA Productions.

“The video is built around a Razorback football game in Little Rock on Sept. 10, 2011,” said Clint Fullen, a graduate assistant who helps manage UA Productions and created the video concept. “It was a powerful event commemorating the 10 years that have passed since the attacks on our country on Sept. 11, 2001.“

“This video was not made to be a commercial for the university in any way,” Fullen said. “It is meant to be a respectful and emotional thank you to our service members, and one that can be seen by them any day, not just Veteran’s Day.”

The director of the university’s Veterans Resource and Information Center echoed Fullen's thoughts.

“We want our service members to know how thankful we are, not just on Veterans Day, but every day of the year,” Gamboa said. “This video will live on YouTube and anytime they want a piece of home they can watch it and know that we are all proud of them and thankful for their commitment.”