Hamilton Sundstrand Employees Recognize Flag Day, Veterans

As employees of defense contractor Hamilton Sundstrand honored the nation's flag Thursday afternoon, they also honored the veterans they work beside each day.

In what has become an annual tradition, hundreds of Hamilton Sundstrand employees filtered out from their workstations to the front parking lot of the main building for a company-wide picnic organized by the Veteran Employee Team. There, they were met by a static display of several military vehicles brought to the property by the local Army National Guard unit, in addition to tables manned by several area veterans service organizations.

"Events like this mean a lot to me because a lot of time civilians don't understand what the military has done for this country," contractor Stephen Peirce said as he looked one of the vehicles over.

"Having events like this make people aware, especially at a large defense organization like Hamilton Sundstrand... they make them aware of what vets have done for this country," Peirce, a retired command sergeant major from Huntsville, AL, said. Peirce served in the Army for 36 years and his family has an extensive history of involvement in the U.S Armed Forces, from the Battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War to his father who served on two fronts during World War II to his own service.

Like Peirce, Simsbury resident Dan Schaper was motivated to take part in the event because he is a Navy veteran, having served four years before leaving the service in 1975. Schaper said he was impressed by the display of vehicles and grateful to the company's veterans team for coordinating the event.

In some manner each branch of the military was represented, from the table set up under the protection of a tent to honor the lost soldiers to the pictures that Hamilton Sundstrand employees shared set of their military service.

"We have more than 1,300 self-identified veterans working at Hamilton Sundstrand, at every level, and in every business unit," company president Michael Dumais said.

"We also have a long, proud record of supporting our servicemen and -women. In the past five years, our company has hired nearly 600 returning vets, and we contract with numerous veteran-owned suppliers," he continued.

Connecticut Army National Guard Master Sgt. Doug Walls said it was a privilege to be invited to the picnic and share some of the guard's equipment kept at Camp Hartell in Windsor Locks.

"Without the veterans before us, there wouldn't be us," Walls said succinctly.

Walls, and several National Guard soldiers who brought the equipment to the picnic from Camp Hartell Thursday, is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, having served a tour in Iraq from 2004-05.