Flag ceremony to honor Afghanistan and Iraq veteransApril 12, 2010 KALAMAZOO--A U.S. flag that flew for five months over a U.S. base in Afghanistan will be presented to the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees and then ceremonially raised by an ROTC color guard during a Thursday, April 15, ceremony honoring the service of WMU veterans. Ed Kluk, assistant director of customer service in WMU's Office of Information Technology, will present the flag, which flew over his unit's base in Afghanistan in 2009, to Larry Tolbert, chair of the WMU Board of Trustees. The presentation will take place during the board's meeting Thursday morning. Immediately after the meeting, at approximately 12:30 p.m. ROTC students will conduct a formal flag raising at the Seibert Administration Building flagpole. Kluk, a lieutenant colonel and Bronze Star recipient in the Michigan National Guard, was responsible for the flag at his unit's forward operating base in Kunduz, Afghanistan. The flag, which may have suffered some shrapnel damage, will be flown over WMU for 10 days. It will then be retired and preserved in a special case to be maintained in the University archives and regional history collections. All veterans in the campus community are urged to attend the flag ceremony. Media contact: Cheryl Roland, (269) 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu WMU News |