As a few soaked students hurried across Copley Lawn at Georgetown University Friday afternoon to take shelter from the rain and cold, another group of students braved the weather solemnly to honor members of the United States' military.
Cadets from AU's ROTC battalion joined others in the Hoya Battalion, D.C.'s ROTC group, to commemorate Veterans Day.
The program, held at Georgetown University, featured a speech by Lt. Col. Pedro G. Almeida, who is a master Army aviator and recently commanded an Apache helicopter battalion in Iraq.
The group holds the program annually to commemorate all veterans, but particularly those from Georgetown, said Kevin Maguire, commander of the battalion's Alpha Company and a senior in the School of Public Affairs.
Other portions of the program included a welcome by the group's commander, Cadet Lt. Col. Steven Thomas, a speech on the history of Veterans Day by Cadet Maj. Gordon Richmond and recitations of the Cadet Creed and the Soldier's Creed.
In addition to AU and Georgetown, cadets from George Washington, Catholic and Marymount universities compose the Hoya Battalion.
Nov. 11 was first designated as a day to remember those who served in the military in 1921, when Congress passed a law declaring it Armistice Day. It became Veterans Day in 1954 when President Dwight Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name.
The national celebration was held yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery and featured a performance by the U.S. Marine Band and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
