Contact: Kenneth Billings
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Center for America's Veterans at Mississippi State next month sponsors the university's first Veterans Day Awareness Week.
Anchored around the national Nov. 11 Veterans Day observance, campus events will commemorate the holiday while paying tribute to the men and women who have served, as well as those now in uniform at home and abroad.
"Our concept is to promote awareness of Veterans Day and what it's all about," said Ronnie White, the center's transition coordinator.
"Many people don't see Veterans Day as very different from Memorial Day, but it is," he explained. "While Memorial Day remembers our fallen soldiers, Veterans Day recognizes their service and pays tribute to both current and former service personnel."
A weeklong display in the Colvard Students Union's second-floor Old Main Room will feature artifacts and memorabilia from most American military conflicts since WWII. The items are being loaned by Camp Shelby's military museum at the Forrest County training center.
Dean of Students Mike White, a Vietnam War veteran, and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Frank Wills of Starkville will be on hand at the location to greet visitors Wednesday, the 12th. Local WWII vets James Peay, Jeff Peay and Bill Geiger will serve in the same capacity on the 13th.
White said the university continues to seek World War II veterans for a special luncheon in the union's Bill Foster Ballroom, also on the 13th. The recognition program will include a documentary on the 1939-45 armed struggle between the Allied and Axis powers that cost an estimated 55 million lives.
The MSU center also is assisting with Veterans Day programs at Starkville High School and Oktibbeha County Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5573. The week will conclude on the 14th with a Marine Ball organized by retired Col. Floyd Johnson of Starkville.
To obtain a schedule or more information about MSU Veterans Awareness Week, contact Ronnie White at 662-325-6825.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.