Our Community Salutes Detroit returns to in-person event at The War Memorial honoring local high school seniors
For the first time in three years, Our Community Salutes Detroit returns to an in-person ceremony. The reception begins at 6 p.m. May 26 at The War Memorial’s (TWM) historic Alger House, with a ceremony following at 7 p.m. The ceremony recognizes and celebrates area high school seniors who are soon enlisting in the Armed Forces following graduation.
The ceremony includes the presentation of the General Colin L. Powell Service Award, comments from Brig. Gen. Scott Hiipakka and Dr. Steven P. Bucci, with musical selections from the Motor City Brass Band.
This longstanding enlistee recognition ceremony is free and open to all who feel compelled to witness a stirring commitment to service. Online registration is required for all enlistees and guests.
“We are honored to host the Our Community Salutes Detroit ceremony to honor the commitment and dedication of these young men and women and their families,” Leah Celebi, TWM vice president of community engagement and programming, said. “After a three-year pause from our annual in-person ceremony, we are excited to serve as a gathering place for the community.”
The General Colin L. Powell Service Award will be presented to one or more high school guidance counselors from Michigan schools that best exemplify a counselor’s support of young adults in making their individual educational and career choices in high school and upon graduation.
Celebi added that together, the community will recognize, support, and say “thank you” to these high school seniors for their decision to enlist in the armed forces.
Hiipakka is the Assistant Adjutant General for the Michigan Army National Guard. He serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator and as an advisor and former appointee to the Michigan Community Service Commission. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Leadership Oakland and was the former Board Chair and board member for Winning Futures.
Hiipakka said the theme of his speech is “Together We Serve.” He will speak on the commitment, volunteerism, the oath of enlistment, and family.
“Our Community Salutes provides an opportunity to recognize a select group of elite men and women who all share a common bond and calling: that calling is for service to something greater than themselves,” he said. “Liken this event to those signing ceremonies when an elite athlete gets recruited to a college or drafted, but these elite students have signed for the U.S. military. This ceremony serves to recognize their commitment to service and our nation.”
Bucci served for three decades as an Army Special Forces officer and top Pentagon official. He was the military assistant to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a man he worked directly with for over five years. Bucci retired from the Army in 2005 with the rank of colonel.
OCS was established in New Jersey in 2009. Today, its chapters exist in over 23 states, and Puerto Rico and conducts over 30 ceremonies annually. For more information about OCS, check out OurCommunitySalutes.org.
To learn more and to register for this year’s OCS at TWM, visit www.warmemorial.org/ocs2022.
# # #
About Our Community Salutes
Our Community Salutes is a national nonprofit organization that supports high school seniors enlisting in the U.S. Armed Services after graduation. We are the first and only national organization that provides student enlistees—and their parents—with recognition, peer networking, community support, education, and career planning resources as student enlistees transition into military service.
OCS was founded in 2009 by educator and former U.S. Army officer, Dr. Kenneth Hartman when he discovered that no one in his community, state, or region was doing anything to provide military-bound high school seniors/enlistees or their parents with recognition, guidance, information, resources, and community support.
About The War Memorial
For more than 70 years, The War Memorial has been an arts, culture, patriotic, and community leader organization for Southeast Michigan. The War Memorial annually hosts more than 3,000 performances, classes, and family or community events drawing 250,000 visitors to its campus on the shores of Lake Saint Clair in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI. The War Memorial offers premier hospitality services for community and private gatherings as well as a diverse lineup of innovative programming for all ages. The War Memorial celebrates the ideals of American democracy through its programming while serving as place to honor and remember those who have defended those ideals. The War Memorial is a place for all people with no membership or residency requirements.
Media Contact
Alex Szwarc
Manager of Communications and Advancement
313.881.7514
aszwarc@warmemorial.org