Pitt-Greensburg Activities Honor Veterans

Military and Veteran’s Services (SITREP) at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg has taken its Veterans Week virtual with a weeklong series of events that recognize and honor U.S. veterans and military personnel.

Even still, the campus observance of this national day of recognition is still visible through a display of American flags and a memorial wreath in front of Chambers Hall.

Two displays in the Millstein Library—an honor roll of the 294 Pennsylvania veterans who have died since Sept. 11, 2001, and a display of library materials about the Vietnam War—also remind students, faculty and staff of the sacrifices veterans have made for our country.

Pitt-Greensburg’s Veterans Week 2020 opened with a screening of the first episode of the documentary “Vietnam in HD,” followed by a discussion hosted by the Veterans Breakfast Club. It will close with the now traditional RED OUT on Friday, Nov. 13, where SITREP invites the campus and community to wear red to remember everyone deployed. A Netflix Watch Party of the Civil War drama “Glory,” a hiring information session focused on veterans with Highmark and a grab-and-go lunch for campus veterans round out the activities. See complete details about these events.

Since 2014, Pitt-Greensburg has consistently been designated a Military Friendly School, “a standard that measures an organizations’ commitment, effort and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefit for the military community,” by Victory Media.

“Veterans Day is about celebrating with veterans that which we all share together,” said Alexander “Red” Bittner, assistant director of admissions at Pitt-Greensburg and active military reserves. “Our experiences inside the military may differ, however we all can celebrate our service together. We also honor the veterans that came before those of us who serve now. It is an opportunity for us to show our thanks to those veterans.”

Lisa Reffner, U.S. Air Force veteran and data and registrar specialist at Pitt-Greensburg, grew up in a small town and in a family with a strong history of military service in both peace and war. “A few years back I read an article and saved this quote because it speaks directly to what Veterans Day means to me, ‘From the heart, when I see a veteran, I see a person who loves their country and is willing to serve and sacrifice for the common good. Someone who, at some point in their life, wrote a check to the United States of America for an amount up to and including their life. No other commitment matches this.’”

Reffner added, “To this day, my service in the U.S. Air Force is the most impactful time of my life. On this Veterans Day, as always, I take the time to pause and reflect on their sacrifice, their stories and, when given the opportunity, to express my profound thanks for stepping forward.”