ATU All Veterans Appreciation Event Thursday

Col. Nate Todd, director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, will serve as keynote speaker for the 2017 Arkansas Tech University All Veterans Appreciation Event on Thursday, Nov. 9.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. in room 300B of Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center, which is located at 305 West Q Street in Russellville. Admission will be free and open to the public.

Todd (photographed) retired from active duty with such awards as the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with seven Oak Leaf Clusters and the Army Commendation Medal.

The Arkansas U.S. Army ROTC color guard will present the colors. There will be a medley of armed forces songs, a prisoner of war and missing in action presentation by representatives of the American Legion, a presentation to a veteran by the Quilt of Valor Foundation and a drawing for a walk of honor tile to be placed in the City of Russellville Veterans Park.

Representatives from the Arkansas Veterans Benefits Administration, Pope County Veteran Services, ATU Service Members and Veterans of America student organization, Veterans Administration Clergy Partnership, American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces and ATU Veterans Upward Bound will be on hand to provide information about services available to veterans.

The ATU All Veterans Appreciation Event is the final in a series of activities hosted by the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center during the fall 2017 semester to commemorate the 100th anniversary of U.S. entry into World War I.

Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center is one of 120 organizations in the United States selected to receive grant funding from the Library of America in support of educational programming about World War I.

For more information, call (479) 964-0569, send e-mail to lheffley@atu.edu or visit http://library.atu.edu.