Three Holy Cross colleges and universities are planning to honor veterans with a number of events Sunday and Monday (Nov. 10 and 11, 2013).
Brigadier General Steven R. Beach, assistant adjutant general for the Army/Oregon National Guard, will be the featured speaker at the University of Portland’s ceremony on Monday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. The event is sponsored by the University’s Air Force and Army ROTC program and will recognize campus members who have served during times of war, including World War II and Vietnam.
Portland’s Veterans Day commemoration actually begins at 11 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 10 with a 24-hour candlelight vigil with cadets standing guard at the Praying Hands Memorial, constructed by the University’s Class of 1948 in honor of the 69 UP students killed during WWII. The memorial now includes a brick wall representing World War I, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War. The vigil will end at the closing of Monday’s ceremony.
The University of Notre Dame’s events also will begin Sunday, with a 24-hour vigil by cadets and midshipmen from the University’s Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC units, beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the Clarke Memorial Fountain. The vigil will end at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
“God, Country, Notre Dame,” celebrating Notre Dame’s military history, will begin at 11 a.m. Monday in the auditorium of the Hesburgh Center for International Studies. J. Nichola Entrikin, vice president and associate provost for internationalization at ND, will offer remarks. There will be a screening of “God, Country, Notre Dame” and the traditional moment of silence will be observed at 11:11 a.m.
There will also be a Veterans Day ceremony at 5 p.m. Monday in the Carey Auditorium of the Hesburgh Library. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve, will be the featured speaker and Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., who was declared an honorary Navy chaplain last spring, will be a distinguished guest.
The King’s College (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.), ceremony will begin Monday at 11 a.m. at the monument near the entrance to the Administration Building on North River Street.The program features remarks from senior Nicolette Pizzo, detachment commander, King’s College Army ROTC, and veterans and friends from the local community.
The event program also includes an invocation by King’s President Rev. Jack Ryan, C.S.C., participating administrators who have served in the armed services, raising of the American Flag and “Taps.” Freshman Nadia Anabtawi will sing the National Anthem.
One of Holy Cross’ own, Rev. William Dorwart, C.S.C., is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, where he serves as Catholic chaplain for Naval District Washington at Arlington National Cemetery. He recently wrote a reflection on his service and the September Navy Yard shooting. You can read his reflection, “Current of Hope,” on the Holy Cross Vocations Blog.
For more on the UP Veterans Day events, check out the University’s website. For more on Notre Dame’s events, read the story on its website.
