HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — On Veterans Day, America honors military veterans. Northern Kentucky University Veterans Resource Station shares how the school will celebrate veterans this November.

Rusty Mardis served 24 years in the U.S. Air Force and now works as NKU’s Veterans Resource Station Director. He says his dedication to celebrating veterans came about from his own experience.

Mardis said, “I struggled. I had a really hard time. And looking around at Northern Kentucky, the resources that were available, I just couldn’t find a whole lot.”

Mardis says despite his struggles, he found himself through serving others.

“I found myself really depressed, trying to find the right way, find my way back through, you know, just feeling good about myself. My self-worth was really damaged. And so, as I worked through nonprofit, I found a new love, a new passion, working with military and veterans that were transitioning out of service and how to best support them,” said Mardis. 

Justin Barrera is one of the many veterans Mardis has helped at the school. He was honored at a ceremony and says that events like this, both, reunite and make veterans feel special.

Barrera said, “When you’re a veteran, you lose a lot of that camaraderie that you had while you’re in the service. And sometimes it’s really tough without that. So, coming together on a day is really nice and talking to people of the like mind and like experiences is really great.”

Both Barrera and Mardis say Veterans Day and the events are an opportunity for their voices to be heard.

Mardis said, “Say thank you, but also to listen to their stories…right… So many of their stories never get heard.”

Stories with a powerful message. The Veterans Day ceremony is just one of many ways NKU is honoring veterans and active-duty military throughout November.

The Veteran’s Resource Station recently launched the “Tactically Acquired” podcast to hear the voices of veterans in their community.