By Jeff Murphy,
August 11, 2016
WARRENSBURG, MO – An annual ceremony honoring the men and women who died and those
who responded to terrorist attacks on the United States Sept. 11, 2001 will be observed
by the University of Central Missouri Friday, Sept. 9. The ceremony begins at noon
near the flagpole at the quadrangle, and is open to members of the campus and local
communities.
This Pre-Patriot Day event is planned two days prior to the 15th year anniversary
date of 9/11, and will feature U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Arnold N. Gordon-Bray (Ret.) as
the keynote speaker. Other individuals representing the city of Warrensburg and the
university will also participate, as well as members of the Johnson County, Warrensburg,
and Whiteman Air Force Base fire departments, and community first responders. A special
tribute will be performed by the Lee’s Summit High School Armed Exhibition Drill Team
led by Col. Rick Milligan, United States Air Force (Ret.). Members of UCM’s Army ROTC
unit and faculty leaders from the Department of Military Science and Leadership also
will join in the activities. The event is being coordinated by the Office of Military
and Veteran Services, and in case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be moved
to Hendricks Hall, located in the Administration Building.
Brig. Gen. Gordon-Bray is a university graduate who was honored in 2012 as a UCM Distinguished
Alumnus. He earned a bachelor’s degree in art from UCM plus master’s degrees from
the U.S. Air War College and the Naval War College. He culminated his career in a
Four-Star Headquarters in the U.S. Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
As a military leader, he commanded at every level, ranging from a platoon of 40 men
to a Brigade Combat Team of 4,500 men and women in the famed 101st and 82nd Airborne
Divisions. He held staff positions that included the Joint Special Operations Command
at Fort Bragg, N.C., and the Installation Management Command, headquartered in San
Antonio, for all Army bases worldwide. He is an Airborne Ranger with numerous awards
and badges including the Army Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Army’s highest
peacetime award; the Defense Superior Service Medal; multiple Legions of Merit and
two Bronze Stars.
The Pre-Patriot Day ceremony is an opportunity for the university and local community
to come together to pay its respects to the nearly 3,000 men and women who perished
and nearly 6,000 individuals who were injured in the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
The worst terrorist attacks on American soil involved two airplanes that were hijacked
and flown into the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City; and one that crashed
into the U.S. Pentagon in Arlington, Va., and a fourth airplane that was being steered
toward Washington, D.C., but crashed near Shanksville, Pa., as passengers tried to
overcome hijackers. More firefighters and law enforcement officers died in these events
than in any other single event in U.S. history.
For more information, contact Delilah Nichols, coordinator of Military and Veteran
Services, at 660-543-8977 or email nichols@ucmo.edu.
