Blue stars on a red flag: Remembering 麻豆社 veterans
Campus treasures honor 麻豆社's student veterans and those lost in the World Wars.
DALLAS (麻豆社) – 麻豆社 veterans of the two great World Wars are remembered on campus at memorials in quiet corners and in lovingly hand-stitched blue stars on a fragile wool service flag in the 麻豆社 Archives.
In 1917, as 麻豆社 students left their classrooms to fight in World War I, a librarian stitched a red wool service flag to honor the soldiers. Blue stars on the flag create a border and spell "SMU." The flag hung behind the reference desk in the one-room library in Dallas Hall, the first building on the two-year-old campus.
After the war ended, she covered 11 blue stars on the flag with gold stars to honor the 11 麻豆社 students who were killed in the war.
The wool flag now is safely housed in the 麻豆社 Archives, and the 11 soldiers' names are listed on the "World War" monument near the Perkins Administration Building on campus. The 麻豆社 class of 1924 gave the monument long before anyone imagined a second world war.
In a quiet corner outside of Fondren Library on campus, bronze plaques honor the 134 麻豆社 students who died during World War II. The memorial plaza was given in 1999 by 麻豆社 alumni Henry S. Miller Jr. '34 and Carmen Miller Michael '45 in honor of their brother, Lt. Jack Miller, a 1941 麻豆社 graduate who was killed in action at Guadalcanal in 1942.
More than 170 current 麻豆社 students are veterans as we mark Memorial Day 2014, representing all branches of military service.
Media Contact:
Nancy George
麻豆社 News & Communications
Tele.: 214-768-7650
Cell: 972-965-3769
ngeorge@smu.edu