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Notable Veteran Alumni: Major General Donald D. Brown

donald brownMajor General Donald D. Brown is an alumnus of Syracuse University, and also a military veteran. You should know his story, because it’s a Syracuse University story—one that speaks to our past, our present, and our future.

Brown was born in 1931 in Montreal, Quebec and grew up in Canada before leaving to come to the United States for his undergraduate education. Leaving one big city and going to another, Brown attended Columbia University and participated in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, eventually earning his BA in 1955 and receiving a commission in the United States Air Force. Brown’s first mission in 1956 was flying C-118s over the North Atlantic from McGuire Air Force Base, NJ with the 18th Air Transport Squadron. Brown really enjoyed this assignment, flying the C-118s for six years before becoming a flight instructor at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma in 1964. Before returning to the Air Force, Brown attended Syracuse University’s School of Management, where he received a Master’s in Business Administration in 1965.

Brown’s career as a flight pilot in New Jersey and Oklahoma took him to distant places he’d heard about as a child in Canada. He was assigned to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam from 1966-1968 as the assistant base supply officer, eventually becoming the base supply officer. His travels also took him to Vietnam, where he served from 1968-1969 as the squadron chief for the 315th Special Operations Wing, based out of Phan Rang Air Base in southern Vietnam. Brown’s successes in Vietnam and Guam, in addition to his time in Oklahoma and his return to McGuire as the commander of the 30th Military Airlift Squadron, led to his appointment to the Military Airlift Command headquarters at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois in 1973. While in Illinois, Brown was director of logistics from 1973-1975, and later the assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics from 1975-1976.

As Brown continued to fly, his career continued to climb as well! In 1977 Brown was assigned as the vice commander of the 62nd Military Airlift Wing out of McCord Air Force Base in Washington, a post which he held until 1979 when he was transferred to Scott Air Force Base, where he eventually became the deputy chief of staff for plans in 1980. Under his tenure at Military Airlift Command, Brown was responsible for all long-range planning for the command, which consisted of over 92,000 personnel at more than 300 locations in 24 countries. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Brown was promoted to deputy chief of staff for operations at Military Airlift Command, responsible for all flying operations worldwide and assumed that position in 1984! Missions under his command include Operation Just Cause in Panama at Christmas, 1989 and airlifting personnel to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War in 1990.

Brown’s last assignment was as the Commander of the 22nd Air Force, Military Airlift Command, stationed at Travis Air Force Base in California from 1984 to his retirement in 1987. The 22nd Air Force’s missions have a wide geographic scope, from the Mississippi River to Eastern Africa and from the Arctic Ocean to Antarctica. He was responsible for over 20,000 personnel who perform airlift missions around the world. Brown has also won many awards and commendations from the Air Force, such as the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf clusters, and the Bronze Star Medal. His 146 combat missions in Vietnam were recognized with the Republic of Vietnam’s Gallantry Cross with palms. Brown was inducted into the Order of the Sword, the highest honor awarded within the US Air Force, in 1987.

Currently, Brown resides in Tacoma, Washington, where he is on the Board of Directors for the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra.

Major General Donald D. Brown is an alumnus of Syracuse University and a veteran of the U.S. military. You should know his story.

Syracuse University and the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944

Written by: Patrick M. Jones, Ph.D.

GI 9-16On June 22, 1944, with the D-Day landings just 16 days old, World War II was fully raging. American Naval and Air Forces were operating in every theater around the globe and American Ground Forces were fighting their way up the Italian peninsula, across France, throughout Burma, and on the island of Saipan. On campus back in Syracuse, the last class of Aviation Students from the Army Air Forces College Training Program had just graduated, bringing the university’s wartime military education programs to a close with over 4,200 soldiers, sailors, and airmen having been trained at Syracuse starting in Spring 1943; and the first three World War II veterans to enroll at Syracuse University had arrived in May. In the midst of all of this, President Roosevelt was planning for the Post-War era and signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI Bill, on that day.

Syracuse University is intimately tied to the GI Bill from its inception to its implementation. Chancellor William P. Tolley, as president of the Association of American Colleges from 1942-1943, had worked with Congress in drafting the Bill’s language and promoting its passage. He believed that education was a cornerstone of the post-war future, writing in The 1945 Onondagan that, “if there is to be a brave new world, its foundation of truth and freedom will be prepared here. This is a task that calls for ideals as well as intelligence, for integrity as well as training, for faith and patience as well as courage and resolution. And from what I know of the men and women in Syracuse, I am sure that we will all do more than our part.”[1]

And do their part they did. The university community welcomed veterans with open arms and in unheard of ways. Veteran programs were developed that included an open admissions policy, guidance counseling, career services, and a variety of support services including remedial reading, counseling for those suffering from psychological trauma brought on by the war, special physical education courses for those with disabilities, therapy for those with speech problems, and instruction in lip-reading for veterans with hearing difficulties. If a veteran had left high school in order to enlist in the military, the university worked with local schools to transfer credit and have a diploma awarded. Finally, the university offered accelerated courses, a year-round schedule, and a placement program to help veterans find employment upon graduation.

The veterans responded by coming in droves, transforming the campus overnight. Whereas the Fall 1945 enrollment had been 4,391 students, it was 18,456 students in Fall 1947, of which 9,120 were veterans. To accommodate the explosion in enrollment the university erected 100 temporary classroom buildings on campus and bought land south of campus for housing where it installed 200 temporary buildings from the War Department, 22 barracks at Collendale, 600 military-style housing units at the former university farm, and 175 trailers for married students in an apple orchard at Drumlins. Students were also housed in a hotel, at a fraternal lodge, in former Army buildings in Mattydale and Baldwinsville, and at the New York State Fairgrounds.

Even with these additional buildings, the campus could not accommodate all of the returning veterans wanting an education. Syracuse addressed this by starting two branch campuses and joining with other universities in a consortium.  The two branch campuses were established in Endicott and Utica in 1946. The campus in Endicott is now SUNY Binghamton and the campus in Utica is today’s Utica College. The consortium, known as the Associated Colleges of the State of New York, offered classes at former barracks at Sampson on Lake Geneva, at Plattsburg on Lake Champlain, and at the abandoned Army barracks in Utica (Mohawk College).

Five years after the signing of the GI Bill, the explosion of veteran students began to subside. All freshmen were housed on campus in 1949 and what has come to be called the “GI Bulge” was over in 1951. In its wake, it left Syracuse University transformed from a relatively small regional college into an international research university. The major beneficiary, however, was a society transformed by a generation of university-educated veterans who went on to make the world a better place, each in his or her own way, with the ideals and intelligence, integrity and training, faith and patience, and the courage and resolution, of which Chancellor Tolley had written in 1945.

Syracuse University celebrates the anniversary of the GI Bill, embraces the vision it set forth as a means to repay veterans for their service and improve society, and is proud to have played a role in its realization. We remain committed to serving veterans of every generation. Today, Syracuse is embracing hundreds of veteran students who are attending the university on the Post-911 GI Bill. As current Chancellor Kent Syverud stated in his inaugural address on April 11, 2014, building on both our history and current capabilities, we will make Syracuse University “the best place for veterans.”

[1]William P. Tolley, “Chancellor William P. Tolley,” in The 1945 Onondagan, ed. Agnes Shoffner (New York, NY: Robert W. Kelly Publishing Corporation, 1945), 10-11.

Notable Veteran Alumni: Major General Max Baratz

Max BaratzMajor General Max Baratz is an alumnus of Syracuse University, and also a military veteran. You should know his story, because it’s a Syracuse University story – one that speaks to our past, our present, and our future. 

Max Baratz was born on 1934 and raised in Aurora, Illinois. His childhood hobby was stamp collecting. His father enlisted in the Army during World War I and served as a noncommissioned officer in the Signal Corps, and his mother was a recent immigrant, coming to the United States from Poland as a young child.

With the Class of 1956, Max Baratz graduated Syracuse University cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and served as a cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. After graduation, he was commissioned as a regular army officer in the infantry due to his recognition as a Distinguished Military Graduate, and later in his career, inducted into Syracuse University’s Army ROTC hall of fame. That summer, Max Baratz married Carole Bogage. They were blessed with two sons and one daughter.

In August 1956, Max Baratz graduated Infantry Officer Basic and received his first assignment as the Pioneer/Ammunition Platoon leader of 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division and later transferred to 3d Battalion, 18th Infantry. Six months later, he joined the Army Reserves where he continued his platoon leader, command and staff time. He graduated from the Engineer Officer Advance Course and was promoted to Command and General Staff College with the 3rd Battalion, 18th Infantry at Fort Riley. In 1976, as a Colonel, Baratz was selected to be the 416th Engineer Command’s Chief of Staff and; in 1979, Baratz was selected as a Brigadier General in the Army Reserve. In 1983, after 11 years of service in the 416th Engineer Command, the Army selected him as commander, then nominated for Major General by President Reagan. 

Prior to returning to active duty, Baratz was a retail stockbroker for H. Hentz & Company, functioning as a block trader representing 20 major brokerage houses. After experiencing much success at H. Hentz, he became a member of the largest floor exchange-the Midwest Stock Exchange. Starting as a broker, Max Baratz quickly climbed the ranks to serve as the Executive Vice-President of Billings, Inc.

It wasn’t until 1991, during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, that Major General Baratz was called to active duty to serve as the Deputy Commanding General for Reserve Affairs, overseeing one of the largest mobilizations since WWII to support the Gulf war. Shortly after, Major General Baratz was again called to active duty to be Deputy Commanding General of the United States Army Reserve Command, responsible for the training and readiness of almost all Army Reserve units in U.S. Three years later, he was selected to be the Chief of the Army Reserve in 1994. Under his direction, Army Reserve units were the first into and the last out of Haiti, in support of Operation Restore Democracy, with more Army Reservists mobilized in support of peace keeping efforts in Bosnia than were mobilized during the Vietnam conflict.

Max Baratz served his country for over four decades and under nine different presidents, when he decided to retire on May 24, 1998. General Baratz’s awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the  Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters.

Max Baratz is an alumnus of Syracuse University and a veteran of the U.S. military. You should know his story.

Notable Veteran Alumni: David C. Knapp

David C. KnappDavid C. Knapp was an alumnus of Syracuse University, and also a military veteran. You should know his story, because it’s a Syracuse University story – one that speaks to our past, our present, and our future.

Born in 1927, David C. Knapp grew up in Syracuse, New York. With the Class of ’47, Knapp received a Bachelor’s of Art in political science from Syracuse University. A year later, he walked across the stage to receive his M.A. from the University of Chicago. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army’s 2nd Armored Division in Ft. Hood, Texas to eventually serve in Korea and West Germany from 1950 to 1952.

Knapp certainly enjoyed the college lifestyle as he immediately returned to Chicago to complete his Ph.D. in political science after his military service. Knapp graduated in 1953 and was immediately offered the faculty position of assistant professor of government at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). From 1955 to 1961, he served as assistant to the president and associate professor. His able skills as an administrator and leadership abilities developed in the Army quickly gained recognition, as he was promoted to Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at UNH. During his tenure, Knapp was granted two highly competitive, merit-based fellowship grants: one international educational exchange as a Fulbright Scholar in Finland and another as a Bullard Fellow in forest research at Harvard University.

In 1963, Knapp left UNH to become associate director of the Study of American Colleges of Agriculture, financed by the Carnegie Corporation and based at the University of Maryland, College Park. While working on this study, Knapp also became director of the Institute of College & University Administrators of the American Council of Education. Five years later, he accepted the inaugural position of Dean of the New York State College of Human Ecology, a statutory college within Cornell University. His success as Dean gained the attention of Cornell University administrators, who later appointed him Provost in 1974, responsible for organizing the merger of the Human Ecology College with the Graduate School of Nutrition.

After leaving Cornell, Knapp became president of the University of Massachusetts (UMass), a position he held from 1978 to 1990. His main mission was to renew the social purpose and reputation of the university. Under his brilliant 10-year leadership, UMass established the Polymer Science Research Center and Massachusetts Biotechnology Research Institute to support the growth of technology industries, created the Corporation for Educational Telecommunications to make the university a pioneer in distance learning, expanded the UMass system from three to five campuses, and enhanced its international profile.

For Knapp’s efforts in strengthening international relations with Japan and Germany and establishing new ones with China and Russia, he was awarded several honors. In 1990, the Emperor of Japan awarded him with the Order of the Rising Sun, the third highest order bestowed by the Japanese Government for his distinguished achievements in international relations. In 1992, Knapp was also recognized for his efforts in promoting development and trade between Massachusetts and Baden-Württemberg, Germany with the Staufer Medal. After retirement from presidency at UMass in 1990, Knapp was named President Emeritus and served as the Ralph Waldo Emerson Professor for three more years. Knapp continued to serve on governing boards of several organizations and has several scholarships in his name. Knapp passed away in April 2010. 

David C. Knapp was an alumnus of Syracuse University and a veteran of the U.S. military. You should know his story.

Student Veteran Cynthia Kao-Johnson Creates “Resilient Documentary” at Syracuse University

Documentary Film and History (DFH) graduate student Cynthia Kao-Johnson entered the military with a creative mind and left with the added benefits of skills and discipline. Now she wants to make a difference by igniting conversations about sensitive topics through her skills in documentary filmmaking.

Kao-Johnson is a mother of three, an active-duty army wife, and a veteran who was in the Army Reserve from 2009 to 2013. According to her, being a reservist is living in both the civilian and the military world at the same time. She is used to having a civilian job while living in a military world. This gave her a unique advantage but it also created trouble. It was a surreal experience when she left that world. Not having to go to drills, or having people understand the acronyms that had become part of her vocabulary, took some getting used to. Feeling it was time to explore a different world, she enrolled in the DFH program at Syracuse University. Kao-Johnson came back to grad school searching for individual creativity, and to see how she could shape her storytelling in an artistic and provocative way.

“I was a broadcast journalist with the Air Force. I did a lot of camerawork. So I have a lot of creativity and a yearning for the freedom that documentary film-making affords.”

Throughout the year the program requires the students to put together a thesis film in order to complete the graduate program. Kao-Johnson’s film revolves around veterans’ experiences with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is a complete feature-length film. It deals with understanding PTSD and what veterans go through paralleled with how the community and outside world perceive it. She brings to life different war eras and how PTSD was experienced in earlier times because the actual term did not exist until 1980. Older vets sometimes did not even know they struggled from the disorder.

This topic is very close to Kao-Johnson as she personally struggled with PTSD herself. This encouraged her to integrate her story into the film as she felt that the veterans she was working with were making an impact on her life as she hoped she was making an impact on theirs. So the film to her is not just surveying different troops and chalking out a story, it is something much closer to heart. The film showcased at the end of last month. She has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to market and distribute the movie further. The trailer can be viewed on YouTube.

The Master’s of Documentary Film & History (DFH), a joint degree program between the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is the only program in the country designed for students seeking the skills and knowledge to produce documentary films on historical subject matter.

 

Meghavaty Suresh is a Graduate Assistant at IVMF currently pursuing a Master of Science in New Media Management from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She holds a Master’s in Management and Bachelor’s in Commerce from Mumbai University.

 

 

Alumnus Receives Medal of Honor for Wartime Courage

SheminMOH2Sergeant William Shemin ’24, a graduate of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University was posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor today at the White House. The award was presented to Shemin’s two daughters, Ina Shemin-Bass ’53 and Elsie Shemin-Roth ’51.

The President relayed Shemin’s tale of saving three wounded fellow soldiers despite a barrage of machine-gun fire during his service in France during World War 1. Eventually, Shemin would assume command of his platoon following the death of the platoon’s senior leaders.

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Three generations of the Shemin family (and Syracuse University graduates) celebrate the fourth generation and William Shemin’s Medal of Honor presentation at the White House on June 2, 2015. Front row (L-R): Ina Shemin-Bass ’53, holding the MOH, and Elsie Shemin-Roth ’51 (daughters of William Shemin). Back row (L-R): Scott Bass ’15 (great grandson), William Cass ’08 (great grandson), Rachel Forman ’05 (great granddaughter), Seth Forman (Rachel’s husband), Leslie Shemin-Lester ’84 (granddaughter) and Sam Cass ’13 (great grandson).

In his sentiments during the presentation, President Obama stated, “It has taken a long time for Henry Johnson and William Shemin to receive the recognition they deserve. And there are surely others whose heroism is still unacknowledged, and uncelebrated. So we have work to do, as a nation, to make sure that all of our heroes’ stories are told. And we’ll keep at it, no matter how long it takes. America’s the country we are today because of people like Henry and William. Americans who signed up to serve and rose to meet their responsibilities and then went beyond, the least we can do is to say we know who you are. We know what you did for us. We are forever grateful.”

The Medals of Honor were the 44th and 45th that President Obama has awarded.

View the Medal of Honor presentations at https://youtu.be/EusxvUrgKQg.

 

 

 

Medal of Honor Recipient: William Shemin ’24

medalofhonorThe late William Shemin, World War I veteran, is an alumnus of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. You should know his story because it’s a Syracuse University story—one that speaks to our past, our present, and our future.

Syracuse University, the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF) are proud to commemorate Sergeant William Shemin of the U.S. Army, a 1924 graduate of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. To our knowledge, William Shemin will be Syracuse University’s first and only graduate to earn the Medal of Honor.

On May 14, 2015, President Barack Obama announced that he would posthumously bestow the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest decoration for valor, to Sergeant William Shemin of Bayonne, New Jersey and Private William Henry Johnson of Harlem, New York for their heroic efforts on the Western front in World War I. President Obama will present the medal to Shemin’s daughter, Elsie Shemin-Roth, in Washington on June 2, 2015. Shemin-Roth, an SU alumna from the class of 1951, has been advocating for this recognition for the past decade.

Imagine the vast fields of northern France during the Great War—earthen trenches for miles, overwhelming German fire across the Vesle River, and your comrades falling victim to German bullets. Sergeant Shemin, a nineteen-year-old soldier from just outside New York City, was thrown into that very fearful situation. There he was, fighting with the Company G, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division of the American Expeditionary Forces. Engrained with a commitment to brotherhood, Shemin repeatedly exposed himself to heavy machine gun and rifle fire, crossing out of the trenches into no-man’s land to save his wounded comrades. After the officers and senior non-commissioned officers fell victim to this terror, Shemin took control of the platoon and displayed quick instinct and impressive initiative under fire, during which he was wounded by a machine gun bullet that pierced his helmet and was lodged behind his left ear. The Allied American-French forces fought valiantly and successfully pushed the Germans back across the Vesle and Aisne Rivers, eliminating the threat of the Germans taking Paris. Within the larger Allied victory of the Aisne-Marne campaign, Sergeant Shemin exemplified the highest degree of valor, bravery, and loyalty to his wounded and fallen comrades, which resulted in Shemin being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest decoration for combat valor.

After his honorable discharge in 1919, Shemin returned to Syracuse, having been previously stationed locally with the 47th Infantry Regiment. He enrolled in Syracuse University and graduated in 1924 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University (now the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry). While at Syracuse, Shemin showed great promise in the classroom but also on the fields of friendlier strife, playing football and lacrosse. After graduating from Syracuse, Shemin launched a landscaping and gardening business in the Bronx, New York. He raised three children, Elsie Shemin-Roth ‘51, Emanuel “Manny” Shemin ‘52, and Ina Shemin-Bass ’53 before passing away in the Bronx in 1973 at the age of 77.

Sergeant Shemin left a long legacy of service to our country and a legacy of Orange Pride at Syracuse University. All three of his children, Elsie, Emanuel, and Ina, attended Syracuse. His daughter-in-law, Rhoda Lee Zisman Shemin, graduated in 1953, and met her future husband Emanuel Shemin ‘52, a former University Trustee from 1997-2009, while at Syracuse. Four of Sergeant Shemin’s great-grandchildren have attended Syracuse; they are Rachel Forman ’05, William Cass ’08 (co-chair of the University’s Metro New York Leadership Council), Samuel Cass ’13 and Scott Bass ’15, in addition to one of his granddaughters Leslie Shemin-Lester ’84, who now serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA).

The Shemin family has been incredibly generous to the University over the past fifty years. A highlight is the Shemin Family Lecture Series in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ fashion design program, which is designed to bring young alumni and other industry professionals to campus to meet students and help them understand the business of fashion. A collaborative effort between VPA and Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management, the Shemin Family Lecture Series focuses on fashion and business, and the promotion of interdisciplinary study. The Series was created with the generous support of the late Emanuel “Manny” Shemin ‘52, his wife, Rhoda Zisman Shemin ‘53, and their daughter Leslie Shemin-Lester ’84.

Manny and Rhoda Shemin have been particularly engaged in the life of Syracuse University, the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and the Whitman School of Management. Their philanthropy has supported scholarships to students enrolled in the Whitman School and they helped fund the 300-seat Emanuel and Rhoda Shemin Auditorium in the Shaffer Art Building in 1990. They also donated funds to build the Rhoda Shemin Student Lounge in the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life, in addition to funding the creation of the Manny Shemin Resource Room in the Stevenson Education Center for the academic support of athletes at Manley Field House in 1995. Their service to the university is also evident in Emanuel’s twelve-year tenure on the Syracuse University Board of Trustees, including nine years on its executive committee and service on the Board’s Academic Affairs and Facilities Committees. Manny was an integral contributor to campus beautification at SU; over the last ten years of his life, Manny annually selected from the Netherlands 1,000 daffodil and 200 tulip bulbs and donated them to Syracuse University.

Following service in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, Manny created Shemin Nurseries from his father’s retail nursery in the Bronx in 1955. The company pioneered the concept of the international nursery and garden supply distribution center and became the largest wholesale horticulture distribution business in the world, with centers throughout the United States, Canada, and Holland. Louis G Marcoccia, executive vice president and chief financial officer remarked, “Manny was a thoughtful person and successful businessman with an engaging personality. I always enjoyed our conversations about University matters.”

Marcoccia’s sentiments about the Shemin family are also shared by Thomas J Foley, the executive associate dean for Institutional Advancement at the Whitman School of Management. Foley remarks how Manny’s passion for landscaping and plants was also transferred to SU Athletics. For example, Manny donated dozens of trees that frame the athletic fields around Manley Field House. Foley highlights Manny’s connection with the university: “Manny was the salt of the earth; his father’s values were instilled in him and he passed those values on to future generations. The Shemin family (four generations of SU alumni) epitomize what you hope a Syracuse University family would be. They became part of the SU community and we became part of their philanthropic fabric.”

Before passing away in 2009, Manny also served on the Corporate Advisory Board of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. Both he and Rhoda were integral supporters of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), a national initiative run by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, designed to offer cutting-edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with service-related disabilities.

The Shemin family has steadfastly supported Syracuse University over four generations and exemplifies the idea of service to one’s alma mater. We sincerely appreciate all that the Shemin family has done for our university.

There were many influential forces pushing to award the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Shemin, including pressure from veterans groups to Department of Defense investigators. Over the past several years, the Department of Defense has been investigating, back as far as WWI, instances of combat heroism that would warrant awarding of the nation’s highest military decoration for valor—the Medal of Honor—but where the Medal of Honor was not awarded given possible discrimination based on race or religion. One of the cases under investigation was that of our alumnus, William Shemin, who was Jewish. Due to bipartisan support, the U.S. Congress passed the William Shemin World War I Veterans Act, signed into law by President Obama, which allowed the Department of Defense to investigate any discrimination in the designation of awards to Jewish service members, which effectively allowed Shemin to receive the Medal of Honor. Elsie Shemin-Roth ‘51 spearheaded this campaign, joined by Representative Blaine Leutkemeyer (R-MO) and Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Dean Heller (R-NV), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and John Boozman (R-AR). Upon receiving news that President Obama would bestow the medal, Senator McCaskill said in a statement, “Discrimination should never play a role when our country pays tribute to extraordinary acts of courage and selfless sacrifice. I couldn’t be prouder that we were able to correct these past injustices and that William Shemin and other Jewish heroes will get the recognition they deserve, and the national gratitude they earned.”

Syracuse University, the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families are very proud to collaboratively commemorate Sergeant William Shemin and deeply appreciate his service to our nation. Syracuse University has a long and proud history of helping veterans and our military personnel succeed when they come back from service. We are honored to include Sergeant William Shemin ‘24 and his family of Syracuse University alumni as integral members of the larger story of America’s veterans, the U.S. military, and Syracuse University.

Sergeant William Shemin ’24 is an alumnus of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University and the only graduate to receive the Medal of Honor. You should know his story.

 

 

Notable Veteran Alumni: John M. McHugh

John M. McHughJohn M. McHugh, the 21st Secretary of the Army, is an alumnus of Syracuse University. You should know his story because it’s a Syracuse University story—one that speaks to our past, our present, and our future.

           

McHugh is a native Central New Yorker—born in Watertown in 1948 and a graduate of Watertown High School. After high school, McHugh attended Utica College, a satellite campus of Syracuse University at the time, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 1970. He later attended the Nelson A. Rockefeller Graduate School of Public Affairs at the State University of New York at Albany, where he received a Master of Public Administration in 1977.

 

McHugh started out working in city government in Watertown, but quickly engaged himself in political service after graduate school as an aide to State Senator H. Douglas Barclay from 1977 to 1984. After Barclay stepped down from the New York State Senate in 1984, McHugh won Barclay’s seat and represented the 46th NYS Senate district. After eight successful years in the state senate, McHugh decided to run for New York’s 24th Congressional District in 1993, ultimately winning the predominately conservative district. McHugh served for nine terms as representative for the 24th (now 23rd) congressional district from 1993 to 2009.

 

As ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, McHugh fought vigorously to protect Fort Drum from budget cuts, support major acquisition projects, and attract new military-related jobs to the district. He served on the House Committee on International Relations and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; he also chaired the Subcommittee on the Postal Service. In addition, McHugh co-chaired the House Army Caucus, a bipartisan organization that educates other Representatives and their staffs about Army-related issues and programs.

 

Viewed as a pragmatic, centrist Republican, a 2009 New York Times article stated, “Mr. McHugh … is part of a vanishing breed in the House: centrist Republicans from Northeastern states.” His ability to work across the aisle with Democrats and Republicans garnered great respect from top party members on both sides, including President Barack Obama. Most notably, President Obama nominated McHugh in 2009 to succeed Pete Geren as the Secretary of the Army. As Secretary, McHugh is responsible for the U.S. Army’s annual budget of over $200 billion, the health and welfare of more than 1.1 million active duty, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve soldiers, and nearly half a million civilian employees and contractors.

 

John M. McHugh is an alumnus of Syracuse University and the Secretary of the Army. You should know his story.

U.S. Secretary of the Army Visits Syracuse University

Former Congressman, representing CNY and Northern New York, John M. McHugh discusses veteran and military-connected programs at SU


The Honorable John M. McHugh, Secretary of the U.S. Army and former member of Congress representing Northern and Central New York, visited Syracuse University on Thursday morning, May 21, to learn more about the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) and the many veteran and military-connected programs and services offered at Syracuse University.

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Secretary McHugh’s visit included a brief stop at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, where he received an update on SU’s Defense Comptrollership Program (DCP) – a military degree program that represents a unique cooperative endeavor between Syracuse University and the Department of Defense (DoD) – and spoke with Military and DoD Civilian members of the DCP, Class of 2015.  More than 1,600 graduates of this program have provided meaningful contributions in demanding management positions.

SectArmySecretary McHugh then attended a discussion with the leadership team from the ‎Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF).  The meeting provided an opportunity to brief Secretary McHugh on the IVMF, its programs, research, community engagement and collaborations enacted in service to America’s veterans and military families.

An additional morning session followed at the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs where SU Chancellor Kent Syverud participated in a review of Syracuse University’s efforts to best serve veterans, military-connected students, and military family members who are students or employees at Syracuse University.

“The Secretary’s visit to Syracuse University speaks directly to the work we are doing for those who have served the nation in uniform,” states Vice Chancellor for Veteran and Military Affairs, and IVMF Executive Director Mike Haynie.  “Secretary McHugh is well aware of Syracuse University’s historic commitment to veterans, and IVMF’s mission to fully leverage the intellectual, human and social capital of higher education, in service to America’s veterans and their families.”

Secretary McHugh, in anticipation of his visit to Syracuse, shared, “Syracuse University is a leader in offering timely and rigorous programs designed for the military and for our transitioning service members.  I am looking forward to learning more about SU’s efforts in this area, as well as gaining a better understanding of the IVMF’s programs and initiatives, and the national impact the institute is having on our nation’s veterans and military families.”

Secretary McHugh specifically pointed out the impact the Boots to Business program has on those serving in the U.S. Army. Operated by Syracuse University, Boots to Business is an entrepreneurial education and training program offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as part of the Department of Defense’s Transition Assistance Program (TAP).  The Boots to Business program has been delivered at 46 Army bases in five countries and 21 states.  More impressive is that 45% of all Boots to Business applicants in 2014 were transitioning service-members (8,230) of the U.S. Army.

Real Dads Wear Orange: From Afghanistan with Love

Sergeant Bryane Greene is thousands of miles away deployed in Afghanistan but his heart and soul are back home with his family especially since his oldest child, Harmony, graduated from college this month. The Office of Veteran and Military Affairs at Syracuse University made certain that Sergeant Greene could watch his daughter receive her degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University through an online live stream. It was a moment he will always cherish.

SFCGreenedaughtersGraduationMy name is Bryane A. Greene; I was born in Chicago, Illinois and currently reside in California. I have been in the military for over 16 years and with two deployments it has not been easy as a dad. Having a family structure in which everyone supports each other as we do makes times like this easier yet they are still missed. I am currently deployed in Bagram, Afghanistan, finishing up on the second leg of an 18-month tour.

Harmony is the oldest of six and it was an honor to watch her take that walk across the stage and graduate from college. Seeing a young lady with so much desire and heart never give up or give in has been wonderful. Knowing that when times got hard being away from home, to see her go through the growing pains of becoming a woman and knowing how to handle those situations, to get to this day was incredible. At times, she had to work late hours to finish her class work, all the while trying to have a normal college lifestyle, too.  Let’s just say that I have watched her not just receive her degree, but I have seen what road she had to take to get there, and it makes me even prouder of her accomplishment. She has the strength beyond measure to achieve whatever she sets out to attain no matter how hard the road is.

I remember when we first took Harmony out to Syracuse, going to her dorm and seeing that our big girl was turning into a young woman right before our very eyes. She made the first step in pursuing her dream, and to see her excitement in just shopping for things for her college room was beautiful.  With all that Harmony has experienced at Syracuse, I can confidently say that it was a good fit. She was able to do what she wanted, which was to be on her own and in control of her own success. Yes, missing home was hard at times, but the Syracuse community kept her busy and now, four years later, she has accomplished what she set out to do: earn her degreeand move towards accomplishing the rest of her goals.  To Syracuse, I say thank you; for you are regarded by our entire family as a great university. Being from Chicago, Blue and Orange fit right in.  So now I have the Blue and Orange of both because “Real Dads Wear Orange.” Go Cuse!

Sergeant Bryane Greene is expected home this fall and he eagerly awaits reuniting with his family.

For more information on the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, visit https://veterans.syracuse.edu.