Julien's Journal November 2015 (Volume 40, Number 11) | Page 32

Department of Defense schools, 52 individuals in the Reserve Officer Training Corps
(ROTC) program, and two students in the
Marine Corps Officer Candidate program.
The ROTC Eagle Detachment operates in
partnership with the University of Northern Iowa, and is open to students from
UD, Loras College, Clarke University, and
the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
Graduates earn a commission as Second
Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. The aviation
students in the Marine Corps Officer
Candidate program also attain the rank of
Second Lieutenant upon graduation, and
go on to a Marine Corps aviation school for
fighter pilots.

The University of Dubuque’s Sergeant Jeffrey B. Dodge Veterans Center was established in Spring
2014 in honor of Jeffrey B. Dodge, class of 1968, who was a casualty of the Vietnam War. The mission
of the Veterans Center is to provide a seamless transition from military life to civilian college life, and
to provide relationships to encourage intellectual, spiritual, and moral development and a zeal for lifelong learning and service. Source: University of Dubuque website

Guest speaker will be decorated Vietnam
veteran William Albracht, author of Abandoned in Hell: The Fight for Vietnam’s Firebase
Kate. At the early age of 21, Albracht, from
Rock Island, IL, was promoted to captain in
the Special Forces (Green Berets). In 1969,
he was sent to join a small group of U.S.
soldiers and South Vietnamese militiamen
at Firebase Kate, a remote outpost near the
Cambodian border.
Immediately after his arrival, Firebase
Kate was surrounded and cut off from reinforcement by the North Vietnamese army,
outnumbering them 40 to 1. In a heroic
night evacuation through enemy terrain,
Albracht helped to lead the men to safety,
with a single U.S. casualty. He will share
his story and host a question and answer
forum after the screening. Free tickets are
required for the event.

Air Force, and Marines with some letters
written by family members to their soldiers.
Playwright Bill Massolia, artistic director of
Griffin Theatre, will give a 30-minute preshow lecture at 6:30 p.m. in Babka Theatre.
“He will be talking about what inspired this
show, how it’s evolved over the years, giving people some background information
so they appreciate more about what they’re
about to witness,” said Robbins. The preshow lecture is free and open to all.

Letters Home

In addition, a Medal of Honor display to celebrate local military heroes will be exhibited in the lobby. “It will be on display both
evenings,” said Robbins, “so if people want
to come prior to the presentation and take
it in, or take a look at it after the show, it’ll
be there.” The Medal of Honor display will
also be available for viewing at Heritage
Center during regular business hours on
November 17-18.

A performance of Letters Home by Chicago’s
Griffin Theatre Company will be featured
on Wednesday, November 18 at 7:30 p.m.
It is based on the real-life letters written by
U.S. service members who lost their lives in
Iraq or Afghanistan. “Obviously, this will be
an emotional performance,” said Robbins.

Tickets for Letters Home are $19-$24 for
the general public, $15-19 for UD alumni,
$10 for current UD students. Military active duty, retired, and reserve components
may request free tickets by phone or in
person from the box office. The pre-show
lecture is free.

The personal experiences of individual
soldiers are brought to life using minimal
props in reader’s theate