The public is invited to join some 80 ROTC cadets and midshipmen in dress uniforms at 11 a.m. Friday (Nov. 11) for the annual Veterans Day ceremony at at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Veterans and town spokesmen believe that UNC’s is the only public ceremony in Chapel Hill that is open to all veterans. Veterans will be asked to stand and be recognized when the conflict in which they served is named.
The ceremony will be outdoors at the Carolina Alumni Memorial in Memory of Those Lost in Military Service, located between Phillips (120 E. Cameron Ave.) and Memorial halls. In the event of rain, the program will be in Gerrard Hall at 160 E. Cameron Ave.
A color guard representing all three UNC ROTC programs – Army, Air Force and Naval/Marine – will assemble at 10:40 a.m. before presenting the colors.
This year’s speaker will be Navy Capt. Douglas Wright, professor of naval science for the North Carolina Piedmont Consortium Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), which governs ROTC at UNC, Duke University and North Carolina State University. Wright has commanded ships and submarines and received a Legion of Merit award.
In time for Veterans Day, the Dean of Students Office has completed a website of resources for veterans who are returning to or beginning college. The site is designed to help students transition from active military duty to campus life, and to make the most of their Carolina experience.
The new website lists details about veterans’ benefits, student organizations related to the military, campus personnel who can help with everything from academic advising to disability services and much more. Visit the site.
The registrar counts 375 students who are using veterans’ benefits to attend Carolina. That figure could include veterans’ family members.