PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 21, No. 21, June 6, 2002

Names of UI veterans to be added at Memorial Stadium

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu

Photo by Bill Wiegand Honoring veterans At a ceremony May 17, Chancellor Nancy Cantor announced a new project for Memorial Stadium that will honor all Illinois alumni, faculty and staff members and students who are veterans. The new memorial will pay special tribute to those who died in wars and conflicts since the university was established in 1867.

A memorial honoring all University of Illinois students, alumni, and faculty and staff members killed in the line of duty while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces will be added to Memorial Stadium, university officials and members of the Veterans’ Memorial Project steering committee announced May 17.

The Veterans’ Memorial Project will honor all Illini veterans and pay special tribute to those who died in wars and conflicts since the university was established in 1867.

Memorial Stadium was dedicated in 1924 in honor of the 189 alumni, faculty and staff members and students who died in World War I. They are commemorated on the limestone columns that support the stadium’s upper stands. However, there is no memorial for the Illini killed in subsequent conflicts.

The new memorial will include bronze plaques listing the names of the Illini who were killed in the line of duty in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and later conflicts. The plaques will be placed at the entrances to the colonnades that bear the names of the World War I casualties.

Retired Navy Adm. Archie Clemins is heading the project steering committee, which comprises 18 other alumni and retired faculty members representing all branches of the U.S. military. Clemins, an Urbana native who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the
College of Engineering, is a former commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and 34-year veteran of the Navy.

"Our goal was to seek the most appropriate way to honor all alumni who served in the U.S. Armed Forces and particularly those who have given their lives in devotion to our nation," Clemins said. "The University of Illinois has a magnificent memorial here in Memorial Stadium. Nothing we could build or do could match this. So our plan is to extend the 1924 dedication of the stadium to include those people who served our nation since World War I in all conflicts."

The memorial project was initiated by Illinois alumni and will be funded entirely through private gifts, mainly from veterans who are members of the Alumni Association. Estimated costs for the memorial range between $50,000 and $70,000. The university’s Office of Planning and Design is working with the steering committee to plan and construct the memorial.

The memorial will be dedicated Nov. 16, 2002, during the Illinois vs. Ohio State football game, the first game after Veterans’ Day. More than 16,000 Illini alumni who are Armed Forces veterans will be invited to the dedication activities. The Marching Illini will perform a special patriotic tribute with ROTC members from all three Illinois campuses, and an Armed Services Reunion and dinner-dance will be held after the game.

Although 1,087 Illini are known to have been killed in various wars and conflicts, no official records have been kept, said Loren Taylor, president and chief executive officer of the Alumni Association.

Therefore, the Alumni Association is conducting an extensive research project to identify all alumni, students, faculty and staff members who perished in the country’s wars and conflicts and who served in the military so their service and sacrifice can be documented and honored.