This Veteran's Day, the dedication of a new 26-inch tall bronze war memorial featuring a World War I soldier took place in front of the military science building at Utah State University.
Originally displayed in Old Main Hall on the Logan campus, the bronze soldier and several plaques were removed after a 1984 fire burned much of the building. In the middle of a bustling campus, Air Force veteran Craig Jessop, dean of USU's College of the Arts, explained what happened when the university's architect approached him in 2008.
"When Old Main burned, these memorials that you see had been removed and preserved," Jessop said, "and he took me to a storage unit and I just couldn't believe the beauty of them."
Though no veterans of World War I are alive today, their sacrifice is honored every year by the wearing of a red poppy, reference to a poem written in remembrance of the 1915 Battle of Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium.
Dean Jessop read the poem to those gathered for the memorial dedication.
"In Flanders fields, the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly, scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago, we lived, felt dawn saw sunset glow. Loved and were loved. And now we lie, in Flanders fields."
