Contact: Allison Matthews
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擬ississippi State is honoring World War II veterans, including a number of former students who gave all they had to defend freedom around the world in the early 1940s.
The university unveiled a new WWII monument outside Nusz Hall, home of the G.V. 鈥淪onny鈥 Montgomery Center for America鈥檚 Veterans on campus during a formal ceremony Monday [Oct. 2].
91传媒 President Mark E. Keenum said the monument dedication is one way for the university to say 鈥渢hank you鈥 to veterans and all who have served. While the university already has some historic markers commemorating veterans, additional monuments honoring U.S. veterans of other wars also are being planned.
Keenum recalled viewing, as a child, the Purple Heart which his great grandmother kept in her home after it was awarded to his great uncle, Alvin Jeffords, who was killed during WWII.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine as a parent sending my teenage son off to war and him not coming back鈥攖he pain and the hurt that I know she felt from that. But he gave his life and all of his future years鈥攄ecades of life and his future family that he most certainly would have had鈥攖o defend this nation and the freedoms that we so frequently take for granted,鈥 Keenum said. 鈥淚 recognize and realize the suffering and sacrifice that鈥檚 involved in defending this nation.鈥
Keenum recognized current service members who are committed to answer the call for 鈥渨hatever it may be,鈥 and thanked other veterans attending the dedication.
91传媒 Vice President for Strategic Communications Sid Salter also represented families of WWII veterans during the program and shared memories of his late father, Leo Salter, who survived D-Day at the Battle of Normandy, where many close comrades died in high numbers.
鈥淲hen Dec. 7, 1941 transpired, he felt the need, because of his connections to Mississippi State鈥攚e still were somewhat of a military school back then鈥攈e felt the need to enlist and serve and to respond to this attack on our country,鈥 Salter said of his father.
He said for much of the war, his father, who was part of the Signal Corps, enjoyed relative safety but that changed during what he called 鈥渢he most terrifying ride of his life鈥 in approaching Normandy for combat. His comrade was killed right beside him almost immediately, but Salter said his father continued toward the cliffs overlooking Normandy Beach.
鈥淥n that day, 2,600 Americans lost their lives on the beaches of Normandy. My father survived,鈥 he said describing the unimaginably difficult mortal combat that ensued that day.
Salter said 16,000,000 American veterans served during WWII, and about 119,000 of them are left in the U.S. today, with an average age now of 99. About 910 remain in Mississippi.
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