BOONE—Campus and community members joined to honor those past and present who have served their country through military service.

Retired Lt. Col. Ron Branch was guest speaker at an observance held at Appalachian State University.

Branch said those who enter the military write a blank check payable to the United States for an amount up to and including his or her life.

“Military service requires a special kind of sacrifice,” Branch said. “During our time in uniform, the interests of the nation come first. The places we live and serve, the people we deal with every day usually are determined by someone else.”

Branch said those in the military can face danger on foreign soil as well as in the United States.

“Our duties are faced by family members who make many sacrifices of their own,” he said.

In spite of those sacrifices, Branch said service in the military brought the rewards of leadership development and the knowledge of serving a cause greater than any self-interest.

“No single military power in history has done greater good, shown greater courage, liberated more people or upheld higher standards of decency and valor than the armed forces of the United States,” Branch said.  “That is a legacy to be proud of.”

Branch retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1998. He is a former chair of the Department of Military Science and Leadership at Appalachian.

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