NEWS

Local angle: Winchester, Va.

Veteran’s Day ceremony to feature remarks by former Navy combat pilot

CHAPEL HILL -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will hold its annual ceremony to honor veterans Monday (Nov. 11) at 2 p.m. in Gerrard Hall. Highlights will include remarks by a former Navy combat pilot and a traditional military tribute to veterans past and present.

The free, public event is sponsored by UNC’s Army Institute of Leadership, Air Force and Navy ROTC units and the registrar’s office. The ceremony will feature the Tar Heel Brigade, comprised of Army and Air Force cadets and Navy midshipmen, who will present a solemn salute to the veterans.

Keynote speaker will be Retired U.S. Navy Capt. Theodore W. Triebel, who flew more than 350 combat missions in Southeast Asia. His plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1972, and he was a prisoner of war until his release in 1973.

During the ceremony, a veteran from each war or conflict of the 20^th century except World War I will be recognized. The event will conclude with the playing of taps and the lowering of the U.S. flag.

The Veterans Academic Achievement Award also will be presented. The award, for student veterans who attended college using the Montgomery GI Bill and demonstrated academic excellence during the previous year, will go to Michael B. Jones. He will receive a $500 award. Jones of Winchester, Va., served at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., and at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. He earned an associate in arts degree from Wayne Community College and enrolled in 2000 at UNC, where he has maintained a cumulative 4.0 grade-point average.

Immediately following the Gerrard ceremony, attendees are invited to a reception sponsored by the University Registrar’s Office at the Naval ROTC Armory Building, located at the corner of South Road and South Columbia Street.

For more information, contact Don Ledford at the NROTC, at 962-1198.

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News Services contacts: Mike McFarland, Karen Moon, (919) 962-2091