Bob Hazard always felt a distance between him and his father. He knew it was because of his father’s experiences in World War II, but he never got to close the gap. 

“I didn’t really begin to understand what he had gone through until I came here and began teaching and saw in the student veterans I had in my classrooms who my father was. It’s got to do with honoring my dad, personally.”

Veterans are all around us – in class, at the store, teaching our classes and in our families. Hazard, a COD English professor, is in charge of an event for Veteran’s Day at the College of DuPage, where people were able to share stories, poetry, or letters that support the theme of honoring veterans. 

The importance of doing the readings at COD is honoring the veterans in our lives and helping the students realize that there are many student veterans here. There are currently between 600 and 700 student veterans attending COD. 

This year, there were about 13 speakers, and 60 audience members. They talked about their friends, family members, and people they’ve lost.

Hazard is in charge of the reading, along with Franz Burnier. Every year, they send out an email to the faculty and ask for volunteers that want to be involved. There is a mixture of students, teachers, and even board members. Anyone who wants to be involved can volunteer.