The WT Veteran’s Network hosted their third annual Veteran’s Ball in Legacy Hall on Nov. 14. The ball included toasts to all of the branches of the Armed Forces, as well as a guest speaker, and live and silent auctions.

All proceeds from the ball went towards scholarships and other funds for veterans at WT. It was a formal affair as veterans young and old came out to celebrate a night of remembrance and honoring those who had come before them.

“The Veteran’s Network is extremely important to WT,” Dr. J. Patrick O’Brien, President of WTAMU and a veteran himself, said. “This is a special group of students, we have to provide them the best support so that they can be successful.”

The evening was all about raising money for the network, many local businesses donated items for the silent and live auctions.

“We raise funds so that we can help the veterans at WT afford their education while at WT,” O’Brien said.

The Veteran’s Ball is the Veteran’s Network biggest fundraiser of the year, which helps raise funds needed throughout the year.

“The Ball benefits the veterans by helping us to raise funds for us to do socials, and for scholarships for us to go to our national convention,” Kristen Randl Foster, President of the WTAMU Veterans Network, said. “The Student Veterans of America Convention is a place we can go and network with other veteran groups and figure out ways that we can make our veteran’s group at WT better.”

Many veterans who are enrolled at WT are much older than your average student, many serving a full career in the military before enrolling.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” Robert Kendall, Mechanical Engineering major at WTAMU and a twenty year veteran of the Navy, said. “I’ve never been to a formal college, so I didn’t know what veteran services would be available, or how the GI Bill would work. Talking with other veterans helped because they have the same experience and mindset that you do.”

Every veteran in attendance received a golden coin honoring their service and their commitment to receiving an education at WT.

In the center of the room was a lone table set up for one, and occupied by no one. This table represented the soldiers missing in action or were a prisoner of war. The tradition of setting a separate table in honor of our prisoners of war and missing comrades has been in place since the end of the Vietnam War. The table is decorated with special symbols to help veterans remember their brothers and sisters in arms.

The keynote speaker for the ball was Col. William Dwiggins, USMC (Ret.). He is the Regional Coordinator for the Texas Veterans Commission in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

The evening concluded with music provided by Straight Shooter, a band out of Oklahoma. The dance floor was full for the remainder of the evening with veterans and their dates dancing the night away.