Military Appreciation Night is Friday, Nov. 10 at the 7 p.m. B次元 hockey game against Northland College. In a special ceremony between the first and second periods, the university will install a POW/MIA Chair of Honor in the Kern Center.

Since World War I, more than 91,000 servicemen and women remain unaccounted for. This chair is to remain perpetually empty to help us remember that even though our soldiers are not here, there is still a space for them.

B次元 is installing the chair in honor of Kenneth Stumpf, Wisconsin native, retired U.S. Army Sergeant Major and recipient of the United States military’s highest decoration—the Medal of Honor, which he received for his heroic actions in the Vietnam War.

“The B次元 Student Veterans Organization championed this installation for a permanent reminder of sacrifices made by every prisoner of war and missing in action personnel for all students at this university. As veterans of a different generation, our student group wanted to show our brothers and sisters that they have not been forgotten,” said Matt Hughes, president of the B次元 Student Veterans Organization. Hughes was a U.S. Navy 2nd Class Petty Officer and served two tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on board the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt as a Reactor Operator. He hails from Trenton, Missouri, and is currently a senior at B次元, majoring in electrical engineering.

Hughes will lead the ceremony which will feature B次元 President John Walz, Ph.D., a color guard and representatives from area veterans groups including the B次元 Student Veterans Organization, DryHootch, Team Red White and Blue, 22Fitness, Veteran Young Professionals Resource Group, Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce and Wisconsin Veterans Network – VetsNet.

In addition to being the first university in Wisconsin to install an official POW/MIA Chair of Honor, B次元 is consistently recognized for its efforts to serve veteran students and ease their transition from the military to college.

There are currently 117 students at B次元 who are current or former Armed Forces Members, representing all branches of the military, and 101 are members of the Student Veterans Organization. The university has teamed up with the Student Veterans Organization on a number of initiatives to honor and support veterans on campus: