Office of Public Affairs

Community Relations

11/3/2009

JMU to Dedicate New Memorial to Fallen Veterans Nov. 8

From: Public Affairs

James Madison University will join in local observances honoring America's military veterans over the weekend preceding Veterans Day. The Sunday dedication of a new memorial to honor the area's fallen veterans will culminate events.

On Saturday, the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team, wearing JMU jerseys, will deliver the game balls to Bridgeforth Stadium prior to the 3 p.m. kick off of JMU's game against Maine.

On Sunday, following the 2 p.m. Harrisonburg Veterans Day Parade from the county administrative complex to the Harrisonburg municipal building, officials from JMU, the city of Harrisonburg, Rockingham County and various veterans groups will dedicate the new memorial. The ceremony will begin in the softball stadium at Memorial Hall and will feature performances by the U.S. Army Drill Team and the Marching Royal Dukes of JMU.

Local officials scheduled to participate in the ceremony are Harrisonburg Mayor Kai Degner, Rockingham County Supervisor Michael Breeden and JMU President Linwood H. Rose.

The program will continue at the site of the memorial, which honors all military personnel from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County who were killed in foreign wars.

The Veterans Day observances are open to the public free of charge. Both the parade and the dedication will take place rain or shine. The rain location for the dedication program is the gymnasium in Memorial Hall.

Nov. 11, Veterans Day, commemorates the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I in 1918.

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Nov. 3, 2009