The newly unveiled Remembering Our Fallen Tennessee memorial has arrived at UT, where it will be displayed during November and will be part of the campus’ fifth annual National Day of Remembrance and Roll Call event on Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11.
Volunteers from the American Legion Riders brought the memorial to Knoxville on Monday and assembled it on the third floor of the Student Services/Communications and University Extension Building. It is set up inside the building, but next to the windows so it can be viewed from the outside by visitors to Circle Park.
The memorial is about fifty feet in length, eight feet in height, and twelve inches deep. It includes photos of Tennessee soldiers who died in the line of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and other locations since September 11, 2001. Several personal notes from family members and friends have been added to the memorial, and a book is available for Knoxville visitors to leave their thoughts and memories of fallen soldiers.
The Tennessee memorial was unveiled on October 17 in Nashville. Its visit to Knoxville marks the beginning of a tour around the state.
Similar Remembering Our Fallen tributes have been assembled in seventeen other states with the goal of having all fifty states’ memorials completed and ready to be displayed together in Washington, DC, in 2016.
The memorial’s visit will be a special addition to this year’s Veterans Day events at UT.
On November 11, the university will again participate in the National Day of Remembrance Roll Call, which began in 2011 to annually honor and recognize the sacrifice of veterans through a simultaneous reading of the names of those who have died in military operations since September 11, 2001.
The Roll Call events will begin at 10:00 a.m. and run until 2:00 p.m. in Circle Park. Faculty, staff, and student volunteers will read aloud the names of the 140-plus Tennessee veterans and some of the other service members who have died in the line of duty since September 11, 2001.
Air Force veteran Ingrid Ruffin, a student success librarian, will serve as the emcee. ReVOLution, a campus choral group, will perform. UT President Emeritus Joe Johnson, a US Army veteran, will speak at 1:45 p.m. The campus community will observe the national moment of silence at 2:00 p.m. The program will conclude with Corporal Jordan Henderson, a student veteran, playing “Taps.”
A flag memorial will be featured in Circle Park to honor the fallen Tennessee veterans. Small flags will be available at the site so those attending the event can add them in honor or in memory of other veterans.
The UT events are all free and open to the public.
Learn more about UT’s Veterans Day events and the visit of Tennessee’s traveling memorial.
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CONTACT:
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)