HATTIESBURG, Miss.– University of Southern Mississippi Air Force ROTC student Tim Wright of Biloxi stands guard Wednesday at the beginning of a 24-hour vigil at Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Hattiesburg to honor local veterans for the Veterans Day holiday Nov. 11. (University Communications photo by Steve Rouse)
HATTIESBURG— As a thank you to military service men and women, Hattiesburg Zoo is inviting them to spend Veterans Day at the Zoo. Veterans and military personnel will receive free admission to the Zoo on Thursday, November 11th when they present their military or Veteran identification card.
For more information on Veterans Day at the Zoo, call 601.268.3220 or email zoo@hattiesburg.org.
The Hattiesburg Zoo is a Hattiesburg Convention Commission Facility, in partnership with the City of Hattiesburg and the Hattiesburg Tourism Commission. Since 1991, the Hattiesburg Convention Commission has been developing, operating and promoting tourism-related facilities for the Hattiesburg area. For more information, visit www.ZooHattiesburg.com or contact us at 601.268.3220
The Forrest County Center of Pearl River Community College will observe Veterans Day with a progam at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, in the multi purpose room.
Speakers will be Chad Daniels, director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum at Camp Shelby, and Dr. Benny Hornsby, PRCC instructor and retired U.S. Navy captain.
The program will also include original commemorative poetry and dedication of a flag pole and flags.
The poetry is the work of PRCC creative writing students Eddie Hodges, Lee Kinabrew and Mason Nelson.
Dr. Janet Thornton, assistant to the dean of the Forrest County Center, will dedicate the flagpole and a flag in memory of her parents, Allen Dodd and Pauline Steed.
The public is invited to attend the program, which is sponsored by the PRCC History and Humanities Club, Thornton and Deborah Hewitt, PRCC counselor.
HATTIESBURG, Miss.– University of Southern Mississippi Air Force ROTC cadets will honor Hattiesburg area veterans in their annual 24-hour Veterans Vigil at the Hattiesburg Veterans Memorial Park from 10 a.m. Nov. 10 through 10 a.m. Nov. 11.
Capt. Peter Beck, commandant of cadets for the Southern Miss Department of Aerospace Studies, compares the vigil to the guarding of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
“Every cadet in the Air Force ROTC program performs duty as a sentry guarding the memorial during the 24-hour period,” said Beck.
The cadets will also perform a Remembrance Ceremony at 7 p.m. Nov. 10 to individually commemorate each of the 171 veterans listed on the memorial. Each veteran’s name will be read aloud.
Immediately following the Veterans Vigil is the Hattiesburg Veterans Committee’s annual Veterans Day ceremony. The Veterans Committee exemplifies this event by naming its Veteran of the Year during the ceremony.
“The Veterans Day ceremony is largely intended to thank all living veterans for their service, to acknowledge that their contributions to national security are appreciated and to underscore the fact that all those who served, not only those who died, have sacrificed and done their duty,” Beck said.
The Southern Miss Department of Aerospace Studies is hosting the vigil and ceremonies, which are all open to the public.
Hattiesburg Veterans Memorial Park is located in downtown Hattiesburg on the south side of Hardy St. between West Pine St. and West Front St. For more information, contact Captain Peter Beck at 601.266.4468 orpeter.beck@usm.edu.
