ROTC to Lead Veterans Day Remembrance at Widener University

Chester, Pa. (Nov. 3, 2010) – Widener University’s Freedom Battalion will honor our nation’s soldiers with a Veterans Day ceremony on Thursday, November 11 at 11 a.m. The ROTC cadets will carry out longstanding customs such as the 21-gun salute and the lowering of the colors by the Veterans Memorial at Widener’s Old Main building, 14^th and Melrose Ave., Chester, Pa. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will move across the street to University Center.

Open to the public, the Veterans Day remembrance will feature an address by Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Matthew M. Goff, a student at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. Chaplain Goff received a Master of Divinity in 1991 from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Forth Worth, Texas. He then served for two years as a chaplain in the Army Reserve before entering active duty in 1993 and taking on a range of chaplain assignments both at home and abroad. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the Army Achievement Medal, to name a few.

In addition to his address, Chaplain Goff will place a wreath at the base of the Veterans Memorial in remembrance of all Widener University-PMC veterans. Alumni of Pennsylvania Military College (PMC), the predecessor institution of Widener University, are invited to the remembrance ceremony to help honor the soldiers of Widener’s past.

Widener serves as the host for Army ROTC activity at the Abington and Brandywine campuses of Pennsylvania State University, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Immaculata University, Neumann University, Villanova University and West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Widener's Freedom Battalion currently has 130 cadets actively enrolled. Of these cadets, 45 hail from Widener, making up 2 percent of the university’s student body.