This week, students walking to class, tour groups learning about Oklahoma State University and alumni revisiting campus can all see the expansive display of American flags and take a moment to observe Veterans Day.

7,905 flags and 7,230 dog tags were placed on the Edmon Low Library lawn. Each dog tag includes the name of a soldier who has died in combat since 9/11. They are arranged alphabetically so that friends and family can find the names of their loved ones.

“I was in a combat unit, so when I see this, I think about my mechanic buddy or I think about a couple people from basic training that just never made it home,” said Corey Davis, veteran services representative in the office of the registrar. “I appreciate that I get to say their names again.”

The display itself took 15 hours to assemble. Volunteers meticulously measured and spaced the flags, resulting in a breathtakingly uniform and expansive field of red, white and blue.

“A lot of what the military is about is doing it the right way,” said Tim Anderson, a Marine who volunteered to put out flags. “I feel like doing it correctly and making the flags organized just helps represent what these soldiers stood for.”

The effort started much earlier than Veterans Day. Throughout the summer, Camp Cowboy attendees attached zip ties to the dog tags as part of their group service project. Leading up to this week, the Military-Affiliated Student Support Office alphabetized and catalogued the dog tags.

The large central flagpole carrying two flags is a new addition this year. The first says “thank you veterans” and is decorated with red poppies in reference to John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields,” which calls the reader to remember and carry on deceased soldiers’ dedication to fighting for freedom.

The second flag bears the words “don’t give in to the battle within” and “stop soldier suicide.”

“No matter what you're going through, there's always somebody there to fight your battles with you,” said Robert Bodick, coordinator of military-affiliated student support. “You're not alone, and you can always reach out to somebody. I thought it was important that we put that message out there on that flagpole. The smaller flags represent people that have fallen in battle, but there are still battles going on outside of that, and we need to try and do what we can to put an end to it.”

In recognition of the mental struggle many veterans endure, the Military-Affiliate Student Support Office hosted a veteran suicide awareness march on Monday.

There was also a veteran appreciation dinner on Tuesday. Open to all faculty, staff and students, the event was an opportunity to celebrate OSU’s veteran community.

The Cowboy family’s gratitude for veterans is not limited to Stillwater. OSU-Tulsa filled the Stanley E. White Hall lawn with as many American flags as it can hold. The Student Services office also hands out gifts to veteran students throughout Veterans Day.

“I've seen combat, I've seen death and I've seen destruction, but I've seen the good stuff in life too,” Bodick said. “For me, it's humbling just to see that we're honoring somebody's life in a way that other people may not ever ever dream.”

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Story By: Adrienne Frye | adrienne.frye@okstate.edu