Staff photo/Ed Runyan Phil Markovitz of Boardman, with Youngstown Catholic Veterans Post 1222, left, and Fred Shrock of VFW 9571 of Ellsworth lay a wreath Monday at the man’s foot at the monument on the square Youngstown Central as part of Mahoning County Veterans Day Services.

YOUNGSTOWN — George Otto of Youngstown, guest speaker Monday at the Veterans Day ceremony at the Mahoning County Courthouse, served as a U.S. Army combat advisor in South Vietnam in 1971, but later transitioned decades of helping veterans through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Otto focused the bulk of his presentation on the many ways the U.S. military and its veterans have shaped America – through the educational impact of the military, lessons learned by veterans, esteem of self they have acquired and how veterans continue to impact society after their military service. service.

“The greatest educational institution in the history of the United States has been the United States military,” he said, noting the basic training, advanced training and other training they received, the calling it “pretty impressive.” The training manuals written for the military “are some of the finest written documents that exist in this country,” he said.

The textbooks were written by highly educated people because they needed to be understood by a wide audience. “They are almost breathtaking in their seriousness, conciseness, clarity and are also completely understandable to the reader,” he said.

Many service members enlisted before graduating from high school, and some got help obtaining their GED. Many veterans then used the GI Bill to get an education that helped them launch careers in society’s most important positions, he said.

The U.S. military has “very much promoted the concept of teamwork,” he said, adding: “It’s extremely important, especially in this day and age where there aren’t always a lot of people working together. come together to agree on many things.

“The military required under all circumstances that people work together to accomplish a particular mission, and it didn’t matter where they came from or who they were in terms of age, education…they had to come together and accomplish a mission. .”

He said one of the biggest lessons veterans learned was “that they had to ignore differences and do something important.” We set a very good example for this country in terms of… teamwork,” he said of veterans.

Another thing the U.S. military brings is a “sense of belonging.” In his case, Otto can say that he is a “veteran of the United States Army.” I served in the infantry. I served as general manager and advisor. I also helped establish a drug treatment program. It creates a “sense of self-worth,” he said.

Another result of being a military veteran – “without even thinking about it – is the promotion of patriotism,” he said. “Veterans have done a lot to promote the flag. Many people don’t really know about American history, “but that’s what the events we promote do,” Otto said.

Many military organizations, such as the American Legion, have youth programs that “teach youth civics lessons.” Other veterans groups have Voice of Democracy programs.

He said veterans have “countless opportunities to promote patriotism.” Every veteran “is an important, walking, talking part of American history. We not only wrote history, we are history, and it must be recorded. The Mahoning Valley is fortunate to have media that tell the stories of veterans, he said.

Phil Markovitz of Boardman, Catholic Veterans Post 1222 in Youngstown, explained the meaning of the wreath at the ceremony.

“This morning we are here to honor all veterans, men and women, who have sacrificed in all wars on this Veterans Day,” he said. “It is our honor to take the crown that was prepared for us by the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission. We will give it to the man on the monument and we will place it in respect of all veterans who have sacrificed in all wars for the United States of America,” he said.

The Man on the Monument is an American Civil War monument located on Central Square, one block from the courthouse down Market Street.

After the program concluded, veterans were invited to sign the signs surrounding the new “Stand Together – A Veteran’s Flag” on display in the courthouse rotunda.