Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.—The Military Order of the Purple Heart has designated Mississippi State University as a “Purple Heart University” for outstanding service to military veterans, service members, dependents and survivors.
Veterans who themselves have received the Purple Heart – awarded to those who have been wounded in combat – were instrumental in nominating MSU for the distinguished recognition because of its ongoing dedication to helping student veterans. Official presentation of the proclamation will take place Nov. 14 at halftime during the Mississippi State vs. Alabama football game. The game also will feature a halftime show in honor of veterans.
Bill Henry of Starkville was among the members of Chapter No. 677 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart who contributed to the nomination process. A 1966 MSU accounting graduate, Henry served as a member of the Marine Corps., and was wounded in Vietnam in April 1968. After receiving the Purple Heart, he returned to MSU as a staff member until his 1995 retirement as the assistant to the director of the MSU Extension Service.
Henry said that to see his university designated with the single-most honored military award is a satisfying realization.
“It’s just quite an unbelievable thing to have a university that cares enough about veterans to be deemed by the Military Order of the Purple Heart as so supportive of veterans’ issues to be honored in this way,” Henry said. He explained that the university-level designation is a relatively young program to recognize universities that “go out of their way to help veterans.”
Henry said MSU President Mark E. Keenum “is probably one of the most supportive people anywhere on veterans’ issues.”
Dennis “Denny” Daniels Jr., another MSU alumnus and Purple Heart recipient, said Mississippi State was a natural selection for the Purple Heart University designation because of the long history of military support and great variety of services provided for veterans.
“When I sent the list of what the university does, it really wowed the national association,” Daniels said.
“To me it’s very important because it’s the national Military Order of the Purple Heart recognizing Mississippi State for efforts in supporting veterans, service members, and dependents. It recognizes that MSU is one of the top veteran or military-friendly universities in the nation,” he added.
Daniels joined the National Guard in 1991 after completing his first semester at MSU. He said the military helped him “get on track.” He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general studies with a certificate in criminal justice in 1996. He worked as a sheriff’s deputy and police officer as he continued to serve part-time in the National Guard.
In 2001, his unit was mobilized and went to Bosnia for six months. About three years later, he went to Iraq. It was there, on April 2, 2005, that a vehicle exploded just a few feet from the armored vehicle carrying Daniels and three fellow soldiers. Moments later, another vehicle came toward the group and also detonated. Amazingly, all four soldiers survived, but with serious injuries that would impact them forever.
Daniels later underwent 18 months of evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, before receiving a medical retirement. Unable to return to the law enforcement capacities he held before, he instead returned to MSU, and again graduated in 2011, this time with a master’s in public policy and administration. He said the VA’s vocational rehabilitation program helped make his continued studies possible.
“The Veteran’s Center on campus did an outstanding job of helping me reintegrate to student life and helped guide me through university registration and other activities,” Daniels said. “They were able to remove a lot of the stress so that I could focus on my studies.”
Retired Army Colonel Kenneth D. “Ken” McRae, who directs MSU’s G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans, said anytime the university is recognized by a veterans’ organization, it is an honor. Being recognized by the Military Order of the Purple Heart is especially significant, he said.
“They’re the cream of the crop because these soldiers have seen combat and been wounded. To be recognized by them as serving veterans in an exemplary way means a lot, not only to the veterans and service members and dependents on campus, but it also sets us apart from a lot of other colleges and universities,” McRae said.
About 450 veterans and service members are students at MSU, and the veteran community, which includes dependents, comprises more than 2,100 students on campus.
A premier veterans’ center is currently under construction at the MSU campus and set to open in 2016. The building will include 7,500 square-feet and feature administrative offices, a meeting area and student-support spaces, including a computer lab, study rooms and a “day room,” McRae said.
“The G.V. ‘Sonny’ Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans is the most comprehensive veterans’ center in the nation. We not only take care of our veterans when it comes to VA certifications for educational benefits and DOD tuition assistance, we also are the first university in the nation to have select VA medical services on campus,” McRae said. He explained that those services are performed by MSU professionals and include physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and expanded mental health services.
MSU is Mississippi’s flagship research university, available online at www.msstate.edu.