JOHNSON CITY — East Tennessee State University will hold a Veterans Day Ceremony Friday, Nov. 8, to honor and remember those who have served their country through military service. Two special guests — Maj. Gen. Leslie Purser and Sen. Rusty Crowe — will offer remarks.

The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial in the Quad (behind Gilbreath Hall) and is open to the public. Members of the ETSU band and the University School chorus will provide patriotic music. In addition, cadets from the ETSU Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets will conduct the Placement of the Wreath ceremony while “Taps” is played.

Maj. Gen. Purser retired in 2017 with 37 years of service in the U.S. Army Reserve. She held many leadership positions throughout her career, most recently as commanding general of the 108th Training Command, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Military Intelligence Readiness Command (MIRC) headquartered in Fort Belvoir, Va. In her role as the deputy chief, Army Reserve, Maj. Gen. Purser was responsible for the establishment of the Human Capital Core Enterprise to ensure the right soldier was placed in the right position at the right time. She is a distinguished military graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she received a bachelor’s degree in graphic art and the United States Army War College where she obtained a master’s degree in strategic studies. Maj. Gen. Purser currently serves as a Tennessee Army Reserve Ambassador.

In his 30th year in the Tennessee General Assembly, Sen. Rusty Crowe continues to actively support veterans and currently serves on Gov. Bill Lee’s Armed Forces Veterans Committee. He also chairs the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and serves on both the Education Committee and Senate Committee on Government Operations. Crowe has a B.S. in criminal justice from ETSU and earned a doctor of jurisprudence degree from Atlanta Law School. In the late 1960s, Crowe served in the U.S. Army Security Agency intercepting coded messages from the enemy in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. He then served with the FBI in the late ’70s. Crowe is a recipient of the Legislative Silver Bayonet Award from the Tennessee AMVETS.

Veterans Day Ceremony organizers include ETSU’s Veterans Affairs Standing Committee, Office of Veterans Affairs, Student Veterans of America and Department of Military Science.

In the event of inclement weather, the Veterans Day Ceremony will be held in Brooks Gym. Visitors may pick up a parking pass at Parking Services, located at 123 Stout Drive (at the University Parkway entrance to campus). For more information about the ceremony, contact Dr. Tom Donohoe of the Veterans Affairs Standing Committee at donohoe@etsu.edu or ETSU’s Department of Military Science at 423-439-4269. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-439-8346.