Tanya Crabb, a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, will deliver the keynote speech at the Veterans Day flag-raising ceremony at 11:45 a.m. Monday, Nov. 10, at California State University, Fresno.
The observance pays tribute to university students and employees who are military service veterans. It takes place at the university flagpoles southeast of the Thomas Administration Building and east of Memorial Court, which was established in 1955 to commemorate fallen veterans.
The event is sponsored by the Veterans Services Office in conjunction with the university’s Army and Air Force ROTC units. It is free and open to the public. Veterans from the community are especially welcome, said Robyn Gutierrez, Fresno State’s veterans certification coordinator. She expects several veterans organizations from the community to attend.
The university will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 11, for the holiday. The Bulldog Marching Band, Fresno State cheerleaders and the school sports mascot, TimeOut, will help lead the Veterans Day Parade at 11 a.m. in downtown Fresno.
Crabb, who is a counselor for University Outreach Services at Fresno State, served in the Marines from 1988 to1992. She is a native of Kingston, Jamaica, who grew up in Brooklyn and graduated magna cum laude from City College, City University of New York, with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology.
She is enrolled in the marriage and family therapy master’s degree program at Fresno State. She and her husband have a 7-year-old son.
Military service runs in Crabb’s family: her husband, Robert, was a Marine infantry officer, her brother served in the Navy, her sister is an Iraq War veteran as an Army combat medic and her nephew serves in the Army National Guard.
Monday’s tribute begins after the ROTC units march across campus from their headquarters at the North Gym. Scottish bagpiper Ken Bain will perform “The 42 Highlanders March” as the detachments march. Master of ceremonies Bernie Vinovrski, a Marine veteran, will direct the flag raising. Vinovrski is associate vice president of Enrollment Services, which houses the Veterans Services Office.
A Fresno State bugler will perform “Reveille” as the flags are raised and Lori Alamano of the University Police Department will sing the National Anthem.
The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Bruce Thiesen, district manager of the Clovis Veterans Memorial District. He is a past national commander of the American Legion and former California secretary of veteran affairs.
The bugler will play “Taps” as a tribute to fallen veterans and Bain will play “Scotland the Brave” as the ROTC units depart after the ceremony.
“America the Beautiful” and “God Bless America” will be performed by the Fresno State Chamber Ensemble led by Fresno State music professor Anna Hamre.
Col. Kevin Martin, the Air Force ROTC Southwest Region Commander from Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, will attend to present the Fresno State AFROTC with a national award it won recently, the Right of Line Award for Best Detachment in the Nation (medium-size category). Lt. Col. Samuel Vandiver, commander of Fresno State’s AFROTC, will accept the award then present it to the university.
Another recognition of veterans will be at the Nov. 15 Bulldogs football game vs. New Mexico State, when the 144th Fighter Wing of the California National Air Guard plans a veterans’ salute flyover prior to the 2 p.m. kickoff.
The Veterans Services Office is part of the California State University system’s Troops-To-College Program at each of its 23 campuses that assists veterans with the process required to use their veterans’ educational benefits, such as waiver of non-resident fees.
Located in the north lobby of the Joyal Administration Building, Fresno State’s services include a welcome and orientation program, priority registration for classes and the Veterans Support Council to address educational needs. Qualified veterans also are allowed admission after the published application deadlines.
Plans are under way to start a student veterans club on campus. Interested students may contact Gutierrez at 559.278.7030 or e-mail rgutierrez@csufresno.edu.
Related link: Veterans Services Office
