KINGSTON, R.I. – Nov. 4, 2024 – U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and award-winning documentary filmmaker Tim Gray ’89 will headline an event honoring the University’s military community Thursday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. in advance of Veterans Day. The event, held in the University of Rhode Island’s Alumni Center, 73 Upper College Road, will bring the URI community together to recognize current and former members of the military who have served the nation. All members of the community are invited and encouraged to attend. 

Reed, Rhode Island’s senior senator, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is also a U.S. Army veteran. As a graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point, Reed served in the 82nd Airborne Division as an infantry platoon leader, a company commander, and a battalion staff officer. Over the course of his military career, he earned the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutist Badge, and Expert Infantry Badge. 

Gray, president and founder of the World War II Foundation and the International Museum of World War II located in Wakefield, will deliver the keynote. Gray has won five regional Emmy Awards for documentary film writing and outstanding documentary film and has completed 38 documentary films, to date. One of his most recent, The Tuskegee Airmen: Return to Ramitelli, premiered last year in Washington, D.C., at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and has aired on PBS. In addition to being recognized with American Public Television’s prestigious National Programming Excellence Award, Gray was inducted into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame in 2021. 

“There’s a lot of value in service and there’s a lot of people that serve in different ways. This is the day that we acknowledge the people who served our country,” said Bob Flynn, director of URI’s Center for Military and Veteran Education and a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Navy. “It’s important to the people that serve that we remember how significant that service is. We should acknowledge that for all professions throughout the year–but this is the day for veterans.”

Recently named a Top Ten Military Friendly University, URI enrolls approximately 300 student veterans, including ROTC and active duty military, as well as more than 180 military-connected students. The event is sponsored by the Center for Military and Veteran Education and the Student Veteran Organization at URI. 

U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Chantel Rosario De Los Santos will lead the speaking program that will include Reed and Gray as well as URI President Marc Parlange. 

“Celebrating Veterans Day here at URI serves as a time to honor and recognize the sacrifices made by our previous and current military service members,” said Rosario De Los Santos. “It’s a great community engagement, a great way to educate others about Veterans Day, and it supports the URI Center for Military and Veteran Education.” 

Ethan Weiner, a junior sports media major and PR minor at the University of Rhode Island and an intern in the Department of Communications and Marketing, wrote this press release.