For Immediate Release

November 5, 2009

SUBJECT: C OF O STUDENTS TO RECEIVE COMMENDATIONS ON BEHALF OF U.S. SECRETARY OF ARMY DURING WWII MINI REUNION

Thirty-three College of the Ozarks students will receive commendations from Sgt. Major Michael Dudley and Sgt. Major Joanne Snyder of the U. S. Pentagon on behalf of the U. S. Secretary of Army and Army Chiefs of Staff during a mini WWII reunion, to be held at The Keeter Center on Friday, November 6 at 2 p.m. 

The students to be recognized escorted WWII Veterans back to Europe for the 65th commemorations of Operation Market Garden in September and the Normandy Invasion in June.  These trips, along with future student and Veteran trips already planned, are the result of a unique partnership between College of the Ozarks and The Greatest Generations Foundation, whose mission is to take Veterans back to the battlefields where they fought and to help educate the younger generation about the sacrifices of American soldiers so that their stories will never be forgotten.

Many of the students and the Veterans, who they escorted, will reunite for the first time since their trips to Europe, during tomorrow’s mini WWII reunion. A documentary of the students and Veterans experience traveling to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-Day will be show for the first time during the event.

For more information about the WWII mini reunion or any of the activities taking place during the event, please contact Sue Head, Executive Director of the Keeter Center for Character Education at (417) 690-2242.

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