Lincoln (Neb.) - April 14, 1998 - The University of Nebraska will rededicate Memorial Stadium April 24 to the memory of Nebraska's servicemen and women who gave their lives in defense of their country.
The ceremony rededicating the stadium will begin at 7:10 p.m. and will be modeled on the ceremony of the original Memorial Stadium dedication in 1923 to World War I veterans. The ceremony will precede the university's celebration of its 1997 national football championship. The celebration will include a farewell tribute to retired football Coach Tom Osborne and the naming of the stadium's playing field in Osborne's honor.
"It's important that we never forget the significance of the name, 'Memorial Stadium,'" said Nebraska Chancellor James Moeser. "The words of Lehigh University President C.R. Richards in his dedication speech 75 years ago still ring true. Richards told the crowd before the 1923 Nebraska-Kansas game, 'You are dedicating this stadium to the memory of the Nebraska men (today, we would add women) who made the supreme sacrifice to uphold the ideals which guided our forefathers when the republic was conceived - ideals which it would seem to me are the hopes of civilization.'"
The ceremony will begin with the playing of "America the Beautiful" by the Cornhusker Marching Band with stadium flags at half-mast. Moeser will deliver remarks to recognize veterans of all of America's wars, then will call for a moment of silence. After the moment of silence, NU Regent Robert Allen of Hastings, a 1944-46 veteran of the U.S. Navy, will read the regents' proclamation officially rededicating the stadium.
Campus ROTC units from all service branches will then
present a 21-gun salute. A solo trumpeter will play taps and the
full band will play "The Star-Spangled Banner" as stadium flags
are raised to full-mast, leading to the conclusion of the
ceremony.
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