Stationed at the Praying Hands Memorial, two cadets will stand in silence for 24 hours, from 11 a.m. on Thursday Nov. 10 to 11 a.m. on Friday Nov. 11.
The memorial will be flanked by one Army Cadet and one Air-Force Cadet, rotating every 30 minutes and is open to the public to observe. UP students are encouraged to attend. It is requested that anyone interested RSVPs through their Veterans Day Invite.
Veterans Day is a federal holiday reserved to honor the military veterans of the US armed forces. To commemorate this holiday, the University of Portland’s Reserve Officer Training Corps is preparing for their 24 hour vigil, ceremony and reception held annually.
ROTC cadets Mikaela Garcia and Konnor Hathaway emphasized the importance of Veterans Day and why UP celebrates it.
“We live a very privileged life here on campus,” Garcia said. “We are getting this education in order to have successful lives and careers and make a difference out there. That wouldn't be possible without the national security that the military brings to us.”
According to Hathaway, the vigil honors the memorial on campus and the veterans that have served.
The vigil begins on Thursday morning and leads immediately into a 45 minute ceremony on Friday held at the Praying Hands Memorial. The ceremony will begin with the posting of the colors, followed by the national anthem being sung. Brigadier General Prigmore will be in attendance as the distinguished guest speaker of this year's ceremony.
“I am definitely excited to hear from General Prigmore,” ROTC Cadet Mikaela Garcia said. “She's very accomplished.”
General Prigmore is the commander of the Oregon Air National Guard and currently serves as the chair of the western region strategic planning system.
Following this ceremony the reception will be held in the Dundon Berchtold lounge, room 101. This reception provides an opportunity to talk to past and present military members, as well as UP ROTC students.
The students have worked hard every year to put on these events and are excited to celebrate and honor the veterans with the rest of the student body at UP.
“This event is pretty big for the veterans in our local community,” Hathaway said. “[They] always look forward to this and we are excited to see this year's turnout.”
Netty Jurriaans is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at jurriaan25@up.edu.
