Campus ROTC to honor veterans

Engineering senior Doug Knotts looks and acts like any other student on campus - except when he dresses up in military gear every Thursday.

"I go to school like a regular college student," Knotts said. "I have 17 credits, I take regular classes, but I also take classes related to leadership and being an officer."

Knotts, from Niagara Falls, NY, is a cadet of the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps. After he finishes college, which the military pays for, Knotts will go to flight school for about two years to get his wings. He will then owe eight years of service to the Navy as a pilot and officer.

"Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot," Knotts said.

Knotts is only one of many University students with military ambitions. The Navy ROTC branch has about 120 students. There are also Army and Air Force ROTC groups on campus.

For Veterans Day this year, the ROTC is doing more than preparing students for military careers. The University's ROTC groups intend to promote public awareness and respect for military veterans, Battalion Senior Army Advisor Sgt. Karol Clampitt said.

Events will carry over to tomorrow's football game against Indiana University, with a flyover by an FA-18 fighter jet, sponsored by the Marines, taking place before the game begins. During the game, the University will also honor the veterans of wars since World War II.

"A lot of people here really just don't know or understand the meaning of 'veteran,'" Knotts said. "They think that Veterans Day is just one day a year, but these people are veterans every day of their lives."

The lack of understanding may be due to the political atmosphere on campus; the University has a reputation as one of the most politically liberal schools in the country.

"Whether they agree with what the president is doing or not, these sailors, soldiers and marines are doing what they are directed to do," Knotts said. "They are making a sacrifice for their country and deserve to be recognized for that."

Eight veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who now teach in the ROTC program are among those being honored at Veterans Day tributes today and tomorrow.

The ROTC is sponsoring a number of events, including a traditional flag-raising ceremony at 8 a.m. today and an 11 a.m. visit to the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Hospital. The visit to the hospital, planned jointly by the ROTC and the hospital, will include a speaker, a 21-gun salute and a presentation honoring those from the Ann Arbor area who have fallen, become prisoners of war or are missing in combat.

But the ceremony at the VA Hospital also helps the ROTC members understand what it means to be a veteran, Clampitt said. The students will get a chance to go from room to room, visiting and paying their respects to injured and ill veterans in the hospital.