Van Bateman’s Southwest Incident Management Team Member and WNMU Alumnus J.R. Calkins Speaking at 9/11 Memorial
The Western New Mexico University Office of Veteran Affairs will observe the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with a memorial event on campus Saturday, September 11, 2021. “The university invites the community to join us in solemnly remembering the 2,977 lives lost that day in 2001, and also in honoring the 5,448 service members and civilians killed in action during the resulting Global War on Terror,” said USAF Sep. Staff Sergeant Jason Quimby, who manages the WNMU Office of Veteran Affairs. The event begins at 8 a.m. with a presentation of the colors and the national anthem sung by Mariachi Plata de WNMU and continues through noon with periodical observed silences in remembrance of the attack’s most devastating moments. Giving the keynote address will be 1984 WNMU alumnus J.R. Calkins, who worked on a Type 1 Incident Management Team that mobilized to New York City on September 12, 2001, to assist with search and rescue efforts at ground zero. The...