Our Viterbo community experienced many emotions when we turned the corner and the found faces of fallen soldiers framing Assisi Courtyard. Banner after banner, row after row, hundreds of photos, names, and stories stood before us. The display commanded our curiosity and forced us to pause from our busy commutes to spend time “Remembering Our Fallen.”

The “Remembering Our Fallen” national tour memorial came to Viterbo Oct. 20-24. Admission was available to anyone with a free second and an open heart. Patriotic Productions’ traveling war memorial presents both military and personal photos of American service members who fell during the War on Terror (Sept. 11 2001—present). The event was not possible without the work of Staff Sargent, James Ray Michael, a business administration major at Viterbo.

The idea of bringing “Remembering Our Fallen” to Viterbo came to Michael while attending the memorial himself, previously displayed at Western Technical College. Michael reflected on seeing the rows of banners for the first time stating, “Empathy streamed into my soul, [I imagined the moment] when they told their loved ones ‘goodbye’ for the last time, but when they did, they did not know that it would be. I can’t begin to imagine how the loss of these service members to all their loved ones emotionally impacted them.”

Undoubtably, many of our Viterbo community members had similar moments while lost in these banners. One such student was Ryan Frechette, petty officer third class, a current service member in the U.S. Navy Reserves. “It was pretty shocking,” Frechette said, “It forced me to reflect on my own journey through the military. I thought about why I enlisted, my story, and the possibility that I too may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.”
The thought of making the ultimate sacrifice, giving one’s life in service to their country, is a thought which is fortunately not on many of the minds of Viterbo’s civilian students. However, for our peers in the military, it is the very reality of being in the service. “I could have easily been on one of the towers,” Michael said, “I was fortunate to come home alive [to my family] when others did not, during my tour in Afghanistan. Every day, I remember all my brothers and sisters in arms who did not come back with me, and I extend my deepest gratitude, respect, and honor to every one of their family members who no longer have these great American service members in their lives today.”

A profound sentiment and valuable takeaway from this experience. Michael expressed to the Lumen that a goal of his was achieved by this event. The goal, as Michael described, was to make sure people are aware that Viterbo is a military-friendly college and that there is support for those who serve our country. Those who serve have a home here, and Michael looks to find further opportunities to bridge the gap of understanding between serving students and their civilian peers.

Frechette, on this same point, stated, “Not everybody is in full support of the military, we know that; some believe we are putting our noses where they don’t belong, that the military is overfunded, and maybe this exhibit won’t change their minds. But I think people will, at the very least, leave this exhibit with respect for those who have died in the line of duty and feel honored by their sacrifices for us.”