WSU Ceremony Honors Veterans Nov. 11

PULLMAN, Wash. — A Nov. 11 Veterans Day ceremony at Washington State University will salute those who have served or are serving in the U.S. military.

Army Capt. James Shull and Air Force Capt. Ralph Gehringer, both WSU alumni who died while on duty, will be honored, said Charii Higgins, WSU Veterans Affairs coordinator.

Shull, originally from Moore, Idaho, graduated from WSU in 1995 and died 2003 in Iraq. Gehringer, originally from Tacoma, graduated from WSU in 1983 and died in 1987 in the United States.

At 10:40 a.m., bagpiper Joe Trudeau, a WSU music major from Spokane, will lead an American Legion Maynard-Price Post of Pullman 52 color guard and others from the Compton Union Building to the WSU Veterans’ Memorial. Also in the procession will be WSU President V. Lane Rawlins, Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson and the captains’ kin. Members of the public are welcome to walk in the procession.

At 11 a.m., the ceremony at the memorial — on the knoll on Veterans Way, near Murrow Center, across from Thompson Hall — will begin with the posting of colors and playing of the national anthem.

Following an invocation by Marine Sgt. William Bisesto, a WSU philosophy major from Stamford, Conn., speakers will include Rawlins, Johnson and Army Reserve Spec. E-4 Victor Sullivan, an Iraq War veteran and WSU construction management major from Ephrata. Flowers will be presented to the captains’ mothers and widows prior to placing of wreaths at the memorial and the playing of “Taps” to honor America‘s fallen soldiers.  In conclusion, the bagpiper will play “Amazing Grace.”

For additional information, contact Higgins at (509) 335-1234.