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ASU Celebrates Veterans Day With Special Events

November 16, 2016

Angelo State’s annual events to commemorate Veterans Day had a distinctive flair this year with the addition of two new monuments in the Memorial Oak Grove and the university’s first Vietnam veterans pinning ceremony.

AFROTC Det. 847 Angelo State University ASU’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 847 annually conducts a flag retreat ceremony and candlelight vigil on the Wednesday of Veterans Day week in the Memorial Oak Grove next to the Mayer Administration Building. The 29 live oak trees and a brick monument topped by a bronze plaque were dedicated in 1949 to commemorate 29 San Angelo College students killed in action during World War II. 



Though this year’s activities were forced indoors by the weather, they included the dedication of two new brick monuments topped with bronze plaques that now flank the original monument in the Memorial Oak Grove. One honors all current and former ASU student veterans, while the other commemorates all former ASU students who died in military combat. 

Then on Veterans Day, ASU’s Veterans Educational and Transitional Services (VETS) Center hosted its annual Veterans Day Celebration in the Houston Harte University Center. This year’s event was highlighted by a pinning ceremony coordinated with the U.S.A. Vietnam War Commemoration initiative. Six Vietnam veterans received official Vietnam War commemorative lapel pins from fellow Vietnam veteran Ed Bendinelli, as well as certificates and an official City of San Angelo proclamation from representatives of the ASU History Department and West Texas Collection. 



The nationwide U.S.A. Vietnam War Commemoration initiative was established by the U.S. Congress to observe the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and honor Vietnam veterans and their families. The ASU History Department and West Texas Collection are two of several ASU entities that are members of the initiative’s local EC-47 History Site Commemorative Partner Program Committee, along with numerous local veterans organizations, the City of San Angelo and Historic Fort Concho.