Some Universities Still Remember

Iowa State University students killed in Korean War The names listed in the picture above are of former Iowa State University students (Cyclones) that were killed during the Korean War. In and of itself that is not out of the ordinary, many honor rolls like this are displayed around the country. What makes this list special though is the fact that the five names at the bottom were just added this past Veteran’s Day. They along with Kenneth Norman Okeson, killed in WW II and Michael Keith Lewis, killed in Vietnam were enshrined in Iowa State’s Gold Star Hall on Veteran’s Day, 2009. The Gold Star Hall was created as a part of the construction of the ISU Memorial Union in 1928. The Memorial Union itself was designed as a living memorial to the Iowa Staters who died in that war. As part of the commemoration, the names of those individuals were engraved on the inside of the north entrance. The Gold Star Hall was named for the Gold Star Banner displayed by those families who had lost a member in action. The Hall is located at the north entrance of the Memorial Union where many hundreds of staff and students walk through each day. For many years the Hall contained only the names of those killed in World War I. In 1984 additional names were added to include those Cyclones killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. At that point it was thought that all Iowa Staters had been identified from those wars. In 2006 as a result of the deaths in Iraq of David L. Giaimo and Eric P. Woods, a ceremony was held to include their names in the Hall. During that ceremony, a third Cyclone, Matthew Keith Anderson, who was killed in action in Somalia was also honored. After that ceremony with the resulting publicity surrounding it, a number of friends and families came forward with the assertion that they knew of someone else that should be included. Thanks to James Olberding, (USA ret) and ISU alumnae and Kathy Svec of the Memorial Union working with the ISU admissions office, an additional 24 Iowa Staters that were killed in action in WW II, Korea and Vietnam have been identified and are now included in the Hall. In these days on University campuses where it is forbidden to have an ROTC detachment on campus and university communities where US Marine Recruiting stations are officially considered by the City Council as "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" and with the memories that many of us particularly from the Vietnam generation have of the activities on campuses while we were putting our lives on the line, it is very heartwarming to live near a major University which has not forgotten those who fight to protect everything the university stands for. My personal tip of the hat and thanks to the administration and staff at Iowa State and to a couple of outstanding citizens, Jim Olberding and Kathy Svec who have gone above and beyond.