Appalachian State University will be closed Monday in honor of those who gave their lives in defense of our country. This morning, Navy veteran, App State alumnus and University Communications staff member Troy Tuttle ’07 placed a wreath at the university’s Veterans Memorial, located next to the B.B. Dougherty Administration Building in the heart of the Boone campus. Thank you, Troy, for performing this honorable duty, and for taking the photos for today’s message.
Message from Chancellor Heather Norris: May 23, 2025
On Monday, the university will be closed in recognition of Memorial Day and the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country and our freedoms.
Throughout the year, we recognize our military members on different designated occasions and for distinctly different reasons. Memorial Day is a particularly meaningful day — set aside to pay tribute to and recognize, as President Lincoln noted in the Gettysburg Address, those who “gave the last full measure of devotion” to their country.
Today, we laid a wreath at our university’s Veterans Memorial honoring those students, faculty, staff and alumni who have given their lives while in service to their country — their names forever etched in our Mountaineer hearts.
Mountaineers near and far, I ask that as you enjoy this long weekend, you take a moment and pause to remember these valiant friends and classmates, as well as the countless individuals around the world who sacrificed so much for our nation.
- Joel Bacon
- Hal Bingham ’42
- Carl T. Bumgarner ’37
- Henry C. Cline
- Ben H. Colvard ’36
- Rennie M. Cory Jr. ’80
- John B. Crisp ’40
- James T. Cunningham
- Robert B. Davis
- Heath Lee Duncan
- Morris Eggers ’37
- Billy Kennedy Evans Jr.
- Paul D. Hagaman
- Albert Reed Harmon
- Roderick John
- Eugene W. Knott
- Edward H. Ledbetter
- George Rufus Lippard
- Fred Jamison Lowrance
- John Marshall McClure ’40
- George Martin Jr. ’41
- George Almond Parrish ’40
- Matt Anthony Pasky
- Herbert L. Poole
- Jeb Franklin Seagle ’76
- Gatewood Shipman
- Lindell Smith
- Bill Sparks
- Merl B. Steimer
- Harold Jasper Stone
- Richard D. Tyndall ’83
- Harold Winecoff ’37
- Joseph Paul Yatsko
- Horace Yount
- Larry J. Bauguess Jr. ’93
- Richard G. Cliff Jr. ’02
- Terry Lee Varnadore ’03
- Shawn Patrick-Thomas Charles ’06
- Susan Marie Giesemann-Babich
- Dale Taylor ’98
- Kevin Herrmann ’02
As we look ahead to a three-day weekend, I hope you will spend some time reflecting on the sacrifices that our fallen service members and their loved ones have made for us, and the significance of this nationwide commemoration.
Heather Norris
Chancellor
Appalachian State University remembers and honors the students, faculty, staff and alumni who gave their lives in defense of our country. The names of the fallen are inscribed on a memorial plaque next to the B.B. Dougherty Administration Building in the heart of the Boone campus. Thanks to Navy veteran and App State alumnus Troy Tuttle ’07, in University Communications, for taking this photo.
