Dozens of visitors and members of the campus community filled the Panther’s Den in the Student Center on Nov. 9 to pay homage to those who have served their country – and especially to one of the U.S. Navy’s most highly decorated pharmacists, Paul Stanley Frament ’39.
Frament’s family -- great and great-great nephews and nieces – from the Capital Region and as far away as Ohio filled the room to see their gifts of artifacts honoring their “Uncle Stanley” bestowed upon the College. (They are pictured with the artifacts, above.) Frament, a pharmacist’s mate who enlisted after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, received posthumous Silver Star and Purple Heart medals for risking his life to aid others on the battlefield during World War II and had a naval destroyer named for him in 1943.
Among them were Bridget and Liam Frament, the last two family members who carry the Frament name. Liam, 16, a student at Christian Brothers Academy in Colonie, was in his school military uniform.
“It really inspires me to have this in your family heritage,” he said.
Now housed at the College are Frament’s medals, letters or proclamations from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and Admiral W.F. Halsey, and other personal artifacts.
“We promise they will be carefully preserved here for generations to come,” Dean of Academic Affairs Anuja Ghorpade announced to the family.
Four of Frament’s relatives were among the veterans who stood to be recognized by Dr. Darren Grabe ‘93, chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice. The ceremony was intended to honor all veterans associated with the College in honor of Veteran’s Day.
Veteran Kortney Warkentin, a 34-year-old Navy veteran in her final year of the pharmacy doctoral program at ACPHS, was among the speakers.
“At their core, health care professionals and service members must hold the same values of integrity, commitment and sense of duty to those we serve,” Warkentin said.
