Campus Connection

Veterans Day is Tuesday, Nov. 11. Several events at UW-La Crosse will honor veterans and promote veterans’ issues Nov. 8-13. The events include: Saturday, Nov. 8—

• Veterans Day 5K Run/Walk: 7:45 a.m. start at UW-L’s Hoeschler Tower. The Cadet Club of La Crosse is sponsoring the Veterans Day 5K Run/Walk through campus. The race will start and finish at Hoeschler Tower. The Cadet Club will honor veterans by donating half of the proceeds to Freedom Honor Flight, an organization founded to fly veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials that stand in their honor. Race cost is $20. Present a student or military ID at the registration table on race day to receive $5 back. Click to sign up online.
• Pack the Vet for the Vets: Veterans will be honored during the UW-L football game vs. UW-Plateville. Tailgating begins at 10 a.m. Game kickoff is at 1 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. Veterans can pick up a voucher valid for complimentary general admission to the game at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex ticket office prior to the game. Click for more online.

Tuesday, Nov. 11—

• Veteran’s breakfast: 8-10 a.m. at Mitchell Hall Fieldhouse. All area veterans and their spouses are invited to the Fourth Annual Freedom Honor Flight Veterans Day Breakfast. This year nearly 900 veterans are expected. A brief ceremony starts at 8:15 a.m. at the Veterans Hall of Honor inside the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. At 9:15 a.m. another program will start inside Mitchell Hall Fieldhouse with speakers including Freedom Honor Flight President Pat Stephens. Free parking will be available in the C-2 lot directly north of Mitchell Hall. An RSVP is appreciated to 608.784.1015.
•  Film screening: 7 p.m. in 1309 Centennial Hall. A screening of the documentary “Where Soldiers Come From” will provide an intimate look into the lives of four young men who go off to war.

The documentary is about a group of childhood friends from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who join the National Guard together after high school, are deployed to Afghanistan and return home. Along the way they’re transformed from reckless teenagers to soldiers dodging roadside bombs. “I picked this film because it's an excellent portrayal of not only life on deployment, but also the hardships that veterans face when they come back home,” says Nicole Jablonski, UW-L veteran educational benefits coordinator. The event is sponsored by UW-L Veterans Services office in conjunction with the Political Science and Public Administration and Sociology/Archaeology departments. This event is free. Thursday, Nov. 13 —

• Veterans lounge open house: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the lounge, 264 Cartwright Center. The open house is an opportunity to network with other veterans, ask questions about veterans benefits and learn about veteran support services at UW-L. UW-L’s veteran’s lounge is a space where UW-L’s military veterans can relax, chat with other veterans, use computers, study and more. Snacks and beverages will be provided.