CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The University Library is hosting “Voice of Veterans” to recognize veterans of the armed forces. It will feature Army Illini ROTC alumnus Nick Sullivan and retired Army Sgt. Garrett Anderson, who is the outreach coordinator and student recruiter at Illinois’ Chez Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education.
Sullivan was seriously wounded when his helicopter crashed in 2014 while he was serving in Afghanistan. Anderson was seriously wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in 2005 while he was serving in Iraq.
The event will be at 2 p.m. Friday in the Library’s Marshall Gallery on the first floor of the Main Library, 1408 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana.
Capt. Anthony Corapi of the U. of I.’s Naval ROTC and Maj. Jason A. Heidbreder of the U. of I.’s Air Force ROTC will also speak.
A complementary exhibit in the north-south hallway of the Main Library features the names of Gold Star Illini, information on women who were killed in service, items related to Memorial Stadium and material about Ensign Joseph Metcalf Hissem, who was awarded the Navy Cross and who was killed at the Battle of Midway.
The “Voice of Veterans” event was organized by Greg Knott, the assistant dean of libraries for business operations. Knott organized an event in November 2017 to recognize Maj. Kenneth D. Bailey of Danville, a 1935 graduate and the only U. of I. alumnus to receive the Medal of Honor, awarded posthumously for leading his company in defending an airfield during the Guadalcanal Campaign in September 1942.
