Sunday, November 11, is Veterans Day, the day our country honors and thanks all who have served in the United States Armed Forces. The University of Tennessee will continue to honor our veterans with several events throughout the month.
Now through November 9
Sign the board — Faculty, staff and students who are also military veterans are invited to drop by 209 Student Services Building anytime between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to sign a board commemorating Veterans Day. The board will be displayed on campus during the National Day of Remembrance on November 12 and at other times throughout the year. The project is a joint effort of Veterans at UTK, the student group for veterans; the Center for the Study of War and Society; and the UT Office of Veterans Affairs, part of the Office of the University Registrar. For more information, contact Regina Lewellyn at 865-974-1500 or rcoving1@utk.edu.
November 12-16
“Through a Soldier’s Eye,” a video slide show of photographs collected from veterans, will be exhibited on the second floor of Hodges Library. Professor Baldwin Lee, working with the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Center for the Study of War and Society, has been collecting photos from soldiers and assembling them into an exhibit. The photos also may be published as a book.
Volunteers Say Thank You — Faculty, staff and students will be given red, white and blue sticky notes to write a “thank you” message to veterans. Those notes will be posted to a six-foot, two-dimensional model of the word “Volunteer” located on the second floor of Hodges Library. Messages honoring veterans also can be tweeted using the hashtag #ThanksUTVeterans.
November 12
National Day of Remembrance, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., South Lawn Ayers Hall. The Veterans at UTK student group is in charge of this event, in which the names of veterans who have given their life in military service will read.
Moment of Silence and “Taps,” noon — A moment of silence will be held and the Ayers Hall chimes will play “Taps.” This is the first year for this commemoration.
November 14
Medal of Honor Speaker, 10:00 a.m., Carolyn P. Brown University Center Ballroom. Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Col. Bruce Crandall will share his story of heroism. He flew 900 combat missions in Vietnam and helped evacuate many wounded troopers before he was severely wounded himself.
The Things They Carried discussion at the Common Ground Book Club ” 11:30 a.m., in the Commons on the second floor of Hodges Library. The book, written by Tim O’Brien, is a series of stories about a platoon of American soldiers in Vietnam.
November 30
Sixth annual Native American Heritage Night, 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. The event will pay tribute to veterans with an emphasis on the involvement of Native Americans in the past and present. It will feature two speakers, Tom Holm from the University of Arizona and Richard Allen of the Cherokee Nation. Both are Vietnam veterans. The event also will include musical performances from the Eastern Band Cherokee Northern Drum Group, Awohali, and a traditional Cherokee dinner provided by the Calhoun family of Cherokee, North Carolina. $20 per person; $10 for veterans and free for students.