Cover stories
Ceremony to honor veterans
Flags fly in front of the Dole Institute of Politics during the center’s dedication in July 2003. Archive/University Relations
KU will observe Veterans Day, Thursday, Nov. 11, with a joint retreat ceremony at 4 p.m. at the flagpole in front of Strong Hall.
An address by a former Vietnam prisoner of war will follow in the Kansas
Union’s Woodruff Auditorium, and 24-hour vigils at the World War
II Memorial Campanile and KU’s Vietnam Memorial will begin at 6
p.m.
Cadets and midshipmen from KU’s ROTC units for the Army, Navy,
Marines and Air Force will participate in the events. Chancellor Robert
Hemenway will be present for the joint retreat ceremony at Strong Hall.
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Barry Bridger will speak at the tribute
to veterans at 4:30 in Woodruff Auditorium.
Bridger and his co-pilot were flying over North Vietnam on Jan. 23,
1967, when their F-4 Phantom jet was shot down by enemy fire. He
was listed
as missing in action until 1970, when Vietnamese officials acknowledged
that he was a captive at a prison camp known as the Hanoi Hilton. He
was released March 4, 1973.
The ceremony at Woodruff Auditorium is free and open to the public.
The candlelight vigils at the two memorials will continue through 6
p.m. Friday, Nov. 12. KU ROTC cadets will take turns standing guard
while
holding lighted candles.