Keynote speaker: Tell a veteran 'thank you'

Did you thank a veteran for his or her service on Veterans Day?

If you didn't, it's not too late, said Lt. Colonel Ryan Yantis, keynote speaker for McHenry County College's Veterans Day Program.

"If you meet a veteran, look them in the eye, shake their hand and say thank you," he said. "It will mean more to them than you'll ever know."

More than 230 people were in attendance for the college's annual program, held inside the gym.

The ceremony included the presentation of the colors and patriotic selections from the McHenry High School band and choir, including "America the Beautiful" and the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Attendees also recognized veterans in the crowd with applause and observed a moment of silence for those who did not return home and for personnel in harm's way.

Yantis, a Crystal Lake resident, was working in the Pentagon on Sept. 11 when a commercial airplane commandeered by terrorists plowed into it.

He remembers the heroism regular men and women exhibited when they ran back into the burning building to rescue their co-workers and said the shared experience made everyone stronger.

"We owe a debt to those who perished to carry their names forward, their ideas forward... and helping the world to be a better place."

The Army veteran also warned that the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan won't be easily won.

"Right now, we're in a long struggle," he said. "It's freedom and democracy against another society that does not want you to grow and that does not want you to celebrate."

The men and women in uniform have seen the cost of freedom firsthand, and Yantis reminded the audience to keep them and their families in their thoughts and prayers, "as they too, are paying a price for your freedom."

Executive Dean Gwen Koehler said last week's historic election is an example of the freedoms Americans enjoy, thanks to the armed forces.

"We had the honor of participating in it, thanks to those who contribute to our democracy," she said.

Finally, Yantis, the Pritzker Military Library's executive director, called on people to consider joining the military.

If in the end people don't enlist, they should honor those who already have served, he said.

"Every day we say 'thank you' dozens of times, but how do you really thank someone for serving our country and saving the world?" he said.