UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

AFROTC

Veterans Day Vigil, Ceremony

vets day copyColonel Doug Edwards, an Air Force ROTC and 1967 University of Portland alumnus, will be the featured speaker at the annual Veterans Day ceremony at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 11, at the Praying Hands Memorial. The ceremony, sponsored by the University’s Air Force and Army ROTC programs, will recognize campus members who have served during times of war, including World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Gulf War veterans.

The Veterans Day ceremony will take place after a 24-hour candlelight vigil with Air Force and Army cadets standing guard beginning at 11 a.m. on Monday, November 10. The vigil ends at the conclusion of the Veterans Day ceremony on Tuesday.

Colonel Edwards graduated from Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) of Arizona in 1969. He then accumulated over 1,000 hours of combat flying over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. He served tours of duty in Arizona and England, where he earned master’s degrees in Aviation Management and Aeronautical Science.

The Praying Hands Memorial was built by the University’s Class of 1948, in honor of the 69 University of Portland students killed during World War II. The addition of each brick wall surrounding the memorial represents four different battles: World War I, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War.

For more information, contact Eric Chastain at 8065 or chastain@up.edu.

U.S. Flag Retirement Ceremony, Sept. 9: All Welcome

vetsdayAir Force ROTC Detachment 695 would like formally invite the university community to a flag retirement ceremony on Tuesday, September 9, at 5:45 to 6:10 p.m., in the courtyard of the Chiles Center next to the flagpole.

The ceremony is to honor our nation’s flag and those who fought and died protecting it. The date was chosen to remember those who lost their lives during the tragic events on September 11, 2001.

During the ceremony a flag will be retired that has become unserviceable due to proper use and display. When a worn flag is no longer a suitable symbol of our nation and what it stands for, it is required that the flag be disposed of with the utmost respect and care.

To help show respect for both our flag and the freedoms it represents, Detachment 695 invites you to join them for a ceremonial burning and retirement of our nation’s colors.

For more information, please contact Rob Moriarty, AFROTC, at 7216.

Recent AFROTC Grad Honored

1Sarah Bogert photo.150Sarah Bogert, a recent graduate of the University of Portland’s nursing school and Air Force ROTC program, was honored over the summer when she was selected as one of the three top cadets from all of Air Force ROTC and Air Education and Training Command. Her selection from a pool of well over 1,300 cadets and new lieutenants nationwide “is the very pinnacle of achievement within the Air Force ROTC program and reflects the highest levels of excellence,” according to Major Stephan Cummings, operations officer at the UP detachment. Cummings notes that the University’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 695 has a track record of success, having won unprecedented back-to-back Right of Line Awards at the regional and national levels in 2011 and 2012. Bogert will go on to compete for the national level 2013 United States Air Force Cadet of the Year Award, which should be announced later this year. For more information contact the Air Force ROTC office at 7216 or rotc695@up.edu.