Norwich honors service, sacrifice, and legacy during Veterans Day observances

Each November, when the final leaves settle across the Green Mountains and the air turns crisp on The Hill, Norwich University enters a season of reflection and remembrance. Veterans Day at Norwich is a reaffirmation of purpose, a moment when the University pauses to honor the men and women who have worn the nation's uniform, and a time when the greater Northfield and Central Vermont communities gather in unity to celebrate service, sacrifice, and citizenship.

This year's observances will unfold over several days, encompassing ceremonial tributes, historical commemorations, and community gatherings that speak to the heart of Norwich's mission: to educate citizen-soldiers who “act as well as think.”

A Week of Tribute and Reflection

The 2025 Veterans Day ceremony will take place on Friday, Nov. 7, from 4:15 p.m.-5 p.m. on the Upper Parade Ground, the symbolic heart of The Hill. It is here, beneath the watchful gaze of Jackman Hall and the Vermont hills, that generations of Norwich cadets have stood in formation to honor those who answered the nation’s call.

This year's keynote address will be delivered by BGen Raymond R. Descheneaux, USMCR (Ret.), Norwich Class of 1987. BGen Descheneaux is a Marine Corps aviator whose career has spanned continents, combat operations, and humanitarian missions. His presence brings Norwich's living heritage of service full circle, as he last spoke on The Hill a decade ago during the University’s Joint Commissioning Ceremony.

Veterans Day holds a profound and enduring meaning at Norwich University as the birthplace of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and the nation's oldest private military college. It is a day that unites the Norwich family — students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members alike — in gratitude and remembrance.

A Legacy in Flight

Brigadier General Descheneaux's story mirrors Norwich’s founding ideals. Graduating with a degree in electrical engineering in 1987, he commissioned into the United States Marine Corps and embarked on a distinguished career defined by leadership and perseverance. Over more than three decades of service, he has commanded units across the globe and flown in operations ranging from Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom to Southern Watch and Infinite Sentinel.

His record includes 319 combat missions, 3,700 military flight hours, and humanitarian efforts in Somalia, Kosovo, and Turkey. During Operation Distant Runner in Burundi, he assisted in the non-combatant evacuation of the U.S. ambassador and more than 240 American citizens amid the Rwandan genocide. Today, he continues that calling as a Boeing 767 captain for a major international carrier, having logged more than 12,000 flight hours in total.

Brigadier General Descheneaux also exemplifies Norwich’s lifelong learning ethos. His academic pursuits include executive studies at the Harvard Kennedy School, the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, and the National Defense University. He holds an MBA from Columbia College of Missouri, a Master's in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Air War College, and is a graduate of the Joint Forces Staff College.

Honoring Service, Leadership, and 250 Years of the U.S. Marine Corps

The Veterans Day period continues with both celebration and reflection through gatherings that bridge generations of service and leadership. On Monday, Nov. 10, the Sullivan Museum and History Center and Kreitzberg Library will commemorate the 250th birthday of the United States Marine Corps with a series of events honoring the legacy and courage of Marines past and present.

The day opens at 11 a.m. with the Marine Corps cake-cutting ceremony in the Kreitzberg Library, followed by an opportunity to view the traveling exhibition, “The U.S. Marine Corps Air-Ground Team: Art from the Collection of the National Museum of the Marine Corps — On the Road.” The collection captures, in vivid imagery and historical narrative, the enduring partnership between air and ground forces that defines the Marine Corps' strength and adaptability.

At noon, the focus turns to the Todd Multipurpose Room, where the Sullivan Museum will host a special Lunch & Learn conversation featuring LtGen John J. Broadmeadow '83, USMC (Ret.), the 25th president of Norwich University, and Mrs. Karen (Rowe) Broadmeadow '83. The discussion will be moderated by BG William McCollough ’91 (VSM), 56th commandant of cadets and vice president for student affairs, a fellow Marine and retired colonel whose own career reflects the same devotion to leadership and service that has long connected Norwich and the Marine Corps.

The program offers more than commemoration, it offers perspective. LtGen Broadmeadow will reflect on his journey from the hilltops of Northfield to the highest levels of Marine Corps leadership, including his tenure as director of Marine Corps staff at the Pentagon, where he helped guide strategy and readiness for one of the world's most storied military branches. His career, marked by command in combat zones, humanitarian operations, and strategic command roles across the globe, stands as a testament to the Marine Corps' timeless values of honor, courage, and commitment.

Mrs. Broadmeadow will provide a complementary and equally profound view of service. Her story is one of steadfast support, advocacy, and leadership in military family life. Her personal dedication was recognized through the Department of the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award, one of the highest honors bestowed upon a civilian. Her insights into partnership, perseverance, and community engagement illuminate the broader dimensions of service.

Together, Lieutenant General and Mrs. Broadmeadow embody the living spirit of Norwich University through a shared life defined by leadership, humility, and devotion to the greater good. Their conversation, guided by BG McCollough, will invite reflection not only on the Marine Corps' 250-year legacy, but on Norwich's enduring role in shaping citizen-soldiers who lead with character and compassion.

As the University and community gather, the celebration will remind all in attendance that service, in all forms, is the truest expression of the Norwich creed: “I Will Try.”

Connecting Campus and Community

What makes the Veterans Day period at Norwich unique is its purposeful invitation to the greater community. The University’s events are not confined to those only inside campus gates, but they also belong to Northfield and to the Central Vermont community.

Each year, residents from neighboring towns join students, alumni, and families to honor service and share in Norwich’s enduring traditions. It is an intergenerational moment of connection as young cadets stand beside veterans whose service stretches back decades, community members join with Norwich faculty and staff in honoring veterans, and children learn firsthand the meaning of gratitude.

This year, that sense of unity will continue when LtGenBroadmeadow serves as the keynote speaker for the Northfield Veterans Day Observance on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. at the Northfield Town Common, hosted by American Legion Post 63. His presence there continues a long Norwich tradition of serving not just the University, but the community that surrounds it — a partnership grounded in mutual respect and shared history.

The Meaning of Veterans Day on The Hill

At Norwich, Veterans Day is both solemn and celebratory. It is a day of community, ceremony, and reflection, but also a living classroom, a reminder to current students of what their education represents and to alumni of the enduring bond they share with those who served before them.

When the Corps of Cadets gathers on the Upper Parade Ground, each cadet stands not only in uniform but in continuity with two centuries of Norwich graduates who have defended the nation's ideals. The moment unites every generation that has ever marched across the bricks, from Civil War officers and World War I aviators to modern cyber warriors and humanitarian leaders.

Norwich University students, alumni, faculty, and staff will once again affirm the timeless words of the University mission statement: “to make moral, patriotic, efficient, and useful citizens, and to qualify them for all those high responsibilities resting upon a citizen of this free republic.”

A Shared Responsibility

The Veterans Day season also reflects Norwich's broader commitment to leadership and education in service of the nation. From the earliest days of Captain Alden Partridge, who founded the University in 1819 to educate “citizen-soldiers,” Norwich has believed that learning must be tied to responsibility.

Today, that mission extends into every discipline, from engineering, to cybersecurity, nursing, and criminal justice, all anchored by the same ethos: that education should prepare students to lead and to serve.

Veterans Day on The Hill is a visible expression of that foundational aspect of the University mission statement. It reminds every member of the Norwich community that the freedoms we study, debate, and defend are sustained by those who have stood ready to protect them.

A Living Classroom of Honor

For Norwich students, participation in these ceremonies is both a privilege and a lesson. Standing in formation, they learn what leadership looks like when expressed through service; attending discussions with distinguished alumni, they see how the ideals of Norwich translate into a lifetime of purpose. Such experiences exemplify the Norwich model of experiential education: lessons not only from textbooks, but from tradition, community, and lived example.

When Norwich gathers for Veterans Day, the campus takes on a particular stillness. The flags along the Parade Ground stir in the late-autumn wind, and the cadence of boots on brick gives rhythm to remembrance. From the sound of the cannon salute to the quiet reflection that follows, every moment carries the weight of 206 years of service.

It is this convergence between learning and duty, between Norwich and Vermont, between past and present that defines the University’s character. Veterans Day is not simply observed at Norwich; it is lived. Through every wreath laid, every word spoken, and every silent moment, Norwich affirms that the stories of its veterans remain central to its identity and to the education of those who will one day take their place.

Looking Forward  

The extended Veterans Day observances — spanning the campus ceremony, the Marine Corps birthday celebration, and the Northfield Town Common address — illustrate how Norwich's mission lives in partnership with its community. Together, they reflect a shared commitment to honor those who served and to prepare those who will.

Veterans Day at Norwich University is more than remembrance; it is renewal. It is a time to look back with gratitude and forward with resolve to honor the courage of the past by shaping the conscience of the future. From The Hill to the heart of Northfield, Norwich and Vermont stand together in tribute to all who have served.