Annual military exhibition opens Saturday at HVCC

TROY, N.Y. >> The eighth annual “Pride of Our Nation… Pride of Our College” exhibition, a display of military photographs and memorabilia loaned by faculty, staff and students, opens Saturday, Nov. 10 at Hudson Valley Community College.

The opening of the display will begin with a public reception from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Marvin Library Learning Commons on the Troy campus on Saturday.

The opening is one day shy of Veterans Day or Armistice Day that this year commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Rear Adm. Timothy Zakriski of Glenville, a Hudson Valley alumnus who assumed command of the 2,800-member New York Naval Militia in August 2018, is the invited guest speaker and Bernard McGarry, a medic during World War II who was with the 105th Hospital during DDay, returns as the honorary Master of Ceremonies.

In light of the anniversary, this year’s exhibition includes stories and artifacts from World War I including the model 1917 helmet issued to James J. Connell while serving with the 105th Infantry, Company M of the United States Expeditionary Forces in France, and the medals awarded posthumously to John James Callahan, Jr., the first Marine from the Capital District to be killed in the first World War.

Rear Adm. Zakriski first joined the New York Naval Militia in 1980. He served as commander of the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 21 (the Seabees) at Lakehurst, NJ; as engineering coordinator for the United Nations’ High Commission for Refugees in Bosnia, and was part of the New York Naval Militia’s response to hurricanes

Irene and Lee, and Superstorm Sandy. As a civilian, Zakriski, who earned his civil engineering degree at Union College, worked for the NYS Department of Public Service for 30 years.

The exhibition, located in the Troy Savings Bank

Charitable Foundation Atrium on the first floor of the Marvin Library, is on view through Friday, Dec. 7. Library hours are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday – Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday and Nov. 21 – 25. Admission is free.

“Pride of Our Nation… Pride of Our College,” a collaborative effort on the part of employees from several departments, is an ever- changing collection of official and family photographs and memorabilia of veterans and active military service members with a connection to the college, according to Alice Malavasic, associate professor in the Department of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences.