Student veterans reflect on experiences
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/11/2009
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Two students experience Veterans Day with memories and experiences that will last them a lifetime.
Rob Comer, a senior in the College of Technology, spent six years on active duty in the Navy before coming to Purdue to get his degree. In the Navy, he worked on a nuclear reactor on the carrier he traveled on.
Not really planning on joining the Navy, he talked to a recruiter and joined quickly right after graduating high school.
He trained for 18 months on how to handle a nuclear reactor to make the steam for the lights and power for his carrier, requiring him to work for five hour stretches with a whole team of sailors.
Comer gathered experience traveling from different states like South Carolina, New York, Washington and Virginia, and spent “sea weeks” in Japan, Greece, Portugal and many more countries.
He had his first experience with war during the first engagement of Iraqi freedom, then continued on to serve in the Persian Gulf War as a support system.
“I saw the commercial that showed the guy who said ‘I’m 22 and operate a nuclear reactor’ and thought ‘yeah, right,’ but then I did it.”
Comer flies graduation boards of Purdue to the different graduations such as Jeffersonville, South Bend, Richmond, and has even flown to South Carolina.
He has wanted to fly since he was 15 years old and has his commercial license. He’s hoping to fly for charter operations, which is when someone hires a team to pick them up to bring them to another destination. He used his experience with teamwork on carriers to fly with his current teams.
Bryan Morris, a junior in the College of Technology, served in the Marines for four years. He deployed twice to Iraq from the end of 2005 to the middle of 2006, and again from 2007-2008.
“It was an honor to be in the Marine Corps.”
Morris’ last deployment in Al Karmah had a traffic circle right by his base that had a lot of damage. The Marines that were stationed there helped raise money to help build this traffic circle back up with open ceremonies that were broadcasted over TV and with the town. He said it was great seeing the leaders of the Marines and the tribal leaders of Al Karmah together and seeing how proud the locals were of their town and their culture.
His pride is shown through him as a leader of the Purdue Veterans organization. With more than 300 veterans on campus, he is excited about this next coming year and the plans the organization has.
Morris is excited about talking to Purdue’s Student Services about starting up a game ball run between Indiana University and Purdue University. This is a tradition taken from the University of South Carolina where the two rival schools have student veterans run the game ball of their football game from the visiting team to the home team, having the schools’ veterans meeting in between. Morris says there has to be a lot thought and discussion before this can happen, but he’s excited about the process.
The Purdue Veterans organization will be at Applebee’s tonight, to share stories and to meet new veterans from Purdue and the area.