Congressman Harper and Clinton Mayor Fisher Salute USA Military Veterans

Students with the Mississippi College Veterans Association are pictured at a Veterans Day event on the Clinton campus. The group sponsored November 11 activities to salute USA veterans, including guest speakers Congressman Gregg Harper and Clinton Mayor Phil Fisher.

U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper teamed with Clinton Mayor Phil Fisher at a salute to America’s military veterans during a program at Mississippi College.

“Our country is filled with great stories of sacrifice,” Harper told hundreds of MC students packing Provine Chapel Tuesday.

As students clutched miniature American flags, Harper spoke of the sacrifices of soldiers from World War II through the present battles to fight terrorists in the Middle East and other global spots.

A 1978 MC graduate, Harper recognized the exploits of Mississippian C.J. Stewart who was injured as a U.S. soldier in combat in Afghanistan in 2010 and nearly died. Forty surgeries later, Stewart was sitting on a third row pew at Provine Chapel. Students, faculty and staff gave Stewart a standing ovation.

The newly organized Mississippi College Veterans Association sponsored the event. Mayor Fisher spoke of the commemorative resolution recently passed by the Clinton Board of Aldermen to thank veterans of the Vietnam War.

“Our soldiers, our Marines were treated so badly when they came home,” in the 1960s and 1970s, Fisher said. Resolutions like this one are long overdue, he believes. It was time to say “thank you” for serving their nation forty and fifty years ago, Fisher said.

A former U.S. Marine, Fisher served in the Mississippi Air National Guard and did two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

MC sophomore Sam Parrish, 20, of Jackson, a medic with the Mississippi Air National Guard, was delighted with the turnout of students and others to pay tribute to America’s military veterans.

Sam serves as president of the Mississippi College Veterans Association that seeks to reach out to military people who are a growing segment of the university’s more than 5,000 students.

An Mississippi Air National Guard recruiter from Meridian, Steven Mueller stayed busy handing out brochures and other information to students on the lawn outside Provine Chapel.

“This is a day to reflect back and see what the country and individuals have done,” Mueller said of Veterans Day activities across America.

Re-elected last week to a 4th term in Congress, Harper says the United States needs to strengthen its commitment to the military and improve services for ex-soldiers at Veterans Administration hospitals nationwide. A new law passed by Congress in 2014 serves to increase the availability of services to veterans when VA care is not available, the Republican noted.

MC freshman Kailey Bernius praised the Veterans Day program on the Clinton campus. With friends of her family serving in the military, the Slidell, Louisiana resident said it’s always important to remember the sacrifices of USA soldiers to protect the nation’s freedoms. “This was eye opening.”

Captain Reginald Brownlee, leader of Mississippi College’s Army ROTC program that enrolls 22 students, lauded the November 11 activities on the Clinton campus and around the nation. “It’s a special day for me,” he said. “I served twice overseas. I’m proud to wear the uniform.”