The Military Student Assistance Center will be hosting a variety of events this week to honor veterans, inviting civilians to acknowledge people who have or are currently serving their country.

The first will be the Veterans Day Commemoration Ceremony, which will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Old Main’s Cougill Foyer.

The ceremony, which has been done for more than 15 years, will consist of remarks given by T.J. Prater, an Eastern student and veteran, and Eastern President David Glassman along with the ROTC Panther Battalion’s three-volley salute.

Kimberlie Moock, the director of the military student assistance center, said she is hoping for a great turn out because of the importance for civilians to recognize veterans.

“(Veterans) are a really proud and dedicated group of individuals, whose soul mission is to protect and serve the United States,” Moock said. “It’s an opportunity for us to honor that service, as some of us make choices to not be in the service.”

At the beginning, the National Anthem will be played, and to conclude the ceremony students will also play “Taps.”

The Veterans Day Commemoration Ceremony is an event that Eastern students, faculty and staff and community members can come together to honor currently serving soldiers and veterans.

“I don’t think we necessarily in our everyday lives think about how these individuals are serving in that capacity,” Moock said.

The Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Remembrance Table will take place every day this week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Bridge Lounge of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Those who attend the event will be able to recognize and remember fallen members of their family or peers who were prisoners of war or missing in action.

A Veterans Appreciation Fair sponsored by the LifeSpan Center will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday at the LifeSpan Center, 11021 E. County Road.

A luncheon will also be hosted by the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center for veterans and families at noon, according to the LifeSpan Center’s website.

A Veterans Day Blood Drive will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Student Recreation Center in Lantz Arena.

A Military Resource Fair will be at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Bridge Lounge of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Community members are also invited to attend a wheel chair activity game to bring awareness to the struggles and hardships veterans with disabilities go through on a daily basis.

The wheel chair activity will be at 1 p.m. on Friday in the Student Recreation Center in Lantz Arena.

Moock said the event will consist of activities involving the skills of playing basketball in a wheelchair.

“Anyone can participate in this event, so come on out; the more the merrier,” Moock said. “This is an opportunity to test drive the wheelchairs and see how individuals with mobility issues returning home have to adapt.”

Lynnsey Veach can be reached at 581-2812 or lmveach@eiu.edu.