Honoring our Military

The U.S. military has moved to the forefront of attention recently with the demise of Osama bin Laden — a deserved spotlight any time of year, but particularly now. May is National Military Appreciation Month, a month designated by Congress to honor, remember, recognize and appreciate all military personnel.

To do its part, Virginia Commonwealth University has launched a collaborative partnership between the Office of the Provost and VCU Human Resources to honor active and veteran members of the U.S. armed forces in its community. This month, VCU will recognize faculty members who have served in the military, host military-themed exhibits and invite its community to sign thank-you cards for wounded warriors.

“Everyone that served in the armed services that I’ve come across is really dedicated and motivated, whether they be reservists, National Guard or in one of the branches,” said Martha Lou Green, Ed.D., VCU’s special assistant to the provost for military student services. “They take great pride in their area of service. We want them to know that we’re proud of them too.”

The university is honoring faculty and staff who are known veterans with a token of appreciation and a note from VCU President Michael Rao. The James Cabell Branch Library on the Monroe Park Campus is hosting “Armed Forces in Comics,” an exhibit featuring art from comics about war and from comics that were commissioned and used by the U.S. Armed Forces. Highlights include selections of PS Magazine: the Preventative Maintenance Monthly, a U.S. Army publication that uses comic book-style art to illustrate proper preventive maintenance methods.

Tompkins-McCaw Library is exhibiting publications from the Doctor of Dental Surgery Class of 1951, the only dental class composed entirely of veterans. The graduates have maintained contact with each other over the last six decades through their newsletter, “Painless Publication," which they donated to the library archives earlier this year. Selections from the newsletter will be on display through May.

Each library also has five thank-you cards designed by child patients at VCU Medical Center and children in the VCU Child Development Center; students, faculty and staff are invited to sign them before May 17 when they will be distributed to wounded warriors at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center.

“One of the charges I have is to raise VCU to be the preeminent military-friendly higher education institution in the commonwealth,” said Green, who assumed the newly created post in fall 2010. “As more people leave Iraq and Afghanistan, they’ll be coming back to school and we want to create a supportive environment for them when they arrive.”