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News Release

Contact: Mark McGowan, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-9472

November 9, 2005

NIU Veterans Club to host Nov. 11 ceremony
in honor of Veterans Day

DeKalb — Members of the Northern Illinois University community can honor veterans Friday, Nov. 11, during the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the flagpole near Altgeld Hall.

Scheduled for 11 a.m. – the 11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 th month – the NIU Veterans Club-sponsored event offers the university and DeKalb County community a chance to pay tribute to men and women who have served, or are serving, in the military.

Speakers include Jon Lehuta, commander of the DeKalb County American Legion; Lt. Col. Craig Engel, chair of NIU's Department of Military Science; and Rosemarie Ostberg, a Navy veteran formerly of NIU Human Resource Services.

Fr. Godwin Asuquo of the Newman Catholic Student Center will offer the benediction. NIU music student Jeff Loda will play “Taps,” and the NIU ROTC will provide the color guard and rifle team.

All are welcome.

“Our troops are the ones who protect freedom and everything Americans have,” said NIU Veterans Club President Charles Kolliker, a member of a Madison, Wis.-based operational support unit of the Naval Reserves and a political science/public law major.

“It's not just a job. It's a commitment that bears stress; being away from your loved ones and other sacrifices that we take for granted that veterans actually have to deal with when they leave and when they come back,” Kolliker added. “People should realize that what they've had all their lives, a veteran has given up those things for four years or more.”

Call Kolliker at (815) 341-9697 for more information.

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