UCF to Celebrate Veterans with Week of Honor, Remembrance

UCF Veterans Week 2013 will feature a variety of events honoring veterans beginning Friday.

UCF offers many programs, services and support opportunities for veterans. The UCF community – including faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members – are invited to help honor those who have served our country.

Several university departments, community groups and organizations are hosting the events:

Friday, Nov. 8:

A veterans commemoration ceremony will be held at noon at the UCF Veterans Commemorative Site on Memory Mall. The ceremony will feature the UCF Brass Quintet and the Air Force ROTC Color Guard.

The Veterans Academic Resource Center will honor service members with a flag display on Memory Mall.

Saturday, Nov. 9:

Knights for Veterans will participate in the City of Orlando Veterans Day Parade. Knights for Veterans is made up of the UCF Air Force ROTC and UCF Community Veterans History Project.

UCF’s Military Appreciation Game against Houston, presented by Lowe’s Home Improvement & SunTrust Bank, will get under way at 7 p.m. There will be a flyover before kickoff with a 1962 Vietnam era Douglas A-4C Skyhawk, piloted by Dave Dollarhide of the A-4 Skyhawk Association during the national anthem. Also, there will be “I Served” stickers, lapel pins and 20,000 small American flags given out. Visitors will be able to see various military vehicles parked outside the stadium and write a thank you note to be distributed to military personnel around the world. The Marching Knights will have a special halftime performance.

All active duty, reserve and retired military personnel with valid ID receive complimentary admission.

Tuesday, Nov. 12:  

The Veterans Academic Research Center and Orlando VA’s VITAL program will host a Veterans Resource Fair during Market Day at the UCF Student Union. Information from community programs and campus-based services will be available.

Wednesday, Nov. 13:

UCF Film and Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society, UCF chapter, will host a movie night in which two military-themed films will be featured. The documentary, Jesse Leroy Brown: First African American Navy Fighter Pilot will be shown at 6:30 p.m. and Steel Helmet will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in the Nicholson School of Communication, Room 145.

The UCF Community Veterans History Project is partnering with Lockheed Martin Corp. to host Veterans History Day on Nov. 13-14. UCF students will conduct oral history interviews with Lockheed Martin employees who served in the military. The UCF Community Veterans History Project is collecting, preserving, and making accessible to the public the experiences of Central Florida’s veterans so that future generations will better understand the realities of conflict.

Friday, Nov. 15:

The Veterans Academic Resource Center invites veterans and their families to a cookout from noon to 2 p.m. at the CFE Arena picnic area.

The psychology department will host a Veterans Research Symposium from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in Room 0106 of the Psychology Building. Presentations will be made by:

Dr. Deborah Beidel – Stress and Resilience in Military Families

Dr. Sandra Neer –Trauma Management Therapy for Combat-Related PTSD

Katie Ragsdale- The Impact of Traumatic Brain Injury on PTSD in Military Personnel

Franklin Mesa – Quality of Life in OEF/OIF Veterans with PTSD

Dr. Ashley Arens – Exposure Therapy: Examination of Perceived Iatrogenic Effects

Jeremy Stout – Sleep Disturbances among Combat Military Veterans: A Comparative Study

Dr. Michael Bermes – Childhood Predictors in the Severity of Combat-Related PTSD among Veterans with Combat Related Exposure

Lloyd Duran – The Effects of Combat Stress on Psychological and Physiological Symptoms among Persian Gulf War Veterans

The Veterans Academic Resource Center and the Orlando VA’s VITAL program will provide the S.A.F.E. training program for UCF’s staff and faculty from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 111 of the Psychology Building. The S.A.F.E. training was created to help educate UCF faculty and staff about specific Student Veteran challenges.  The S.A.F.E. training will focus on military culture, student veteran challenges, how to work with and help student veterans , and resources for Student Veterans.

Space is limited. Reservations can be made by contacting Dr. Bryan Batien at Bryan.Batien@va.gov ^[1].

Saturday, Nov. 16:

The week will conclude with a Ruck Sack March hosted at Memory Mall by the Camaraderie Foundation. Participants can choose to walk/run for fun or compete for prizes by carrying at least 35 pounds in their ruck or backpack. Course options include a 3-, 6-, and 12-mile route.

Prizes will be awarded to the top finisher for each route option, including round-trip airfare for two from Southwest Airlines for the first-place, 12-mile winner.

Registration is open for the march and interested participants should register online at https://camaraderiefoundation.org/ ^[2].