Pitt to Host Remembrance Day National Roll Call Nov. 12 to Honor Troops

The University of Pittsburgh will once again honor American troops who have died in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by participating in the Remembrance Day National Roll Call from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the lower lounge of the William Pitt Union.

The opening ceremony will take place from 9 to 10 a.m., followed by the reading throughout the day of names of servicemen and women who died while serving our nation in those two wars. There will be a moment of silence at 2 p.m. This marks the second year Pitt has participated in the national event.

Also, throughout the day on Nov. 12, members of the University’s Student Veteran Association and Pitt’s Office of Veterans Services, as well as other volunteers, will be collecting money for the Wounded Warriors and Veterans Education Assistance Fund, which was developed to assist wounded veterans and spouses and children of fallen soldiers with educational expenses not covered by the military or by other benefits.

For information about the Roll Call or the Wounded Warrior and Veterans Education Assistance Fund, contact Pitt’s Office of Veterans Services at 412-624-3213.

In addition, to honor veterans of wars both present and past, Pitt’s Department of Theatre Arts is presenting a free reading of the play Spark at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Henry Heymann Theatre at the Stephen Foster Memorial. Spark is about three sisters living in the United States who have been caught up in the aftermath of a recent war. A contemporary story about faith, love, trauma, and healing, Spark explores what happens when the soldiers come home. Playwright Caridad Svich will read, in a presentation directed by theatre arts faculty member Lisa Jackson-Schebetta; a postreading talkback session will follow. NoPassport theatre alliance and press is presenting a series of free readings of Spark in collaboration with multiple venues throughout the United States and abroad in November.

And, on Nov. 18, Pitt Repertory Theatre will present a staged reading of Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue, written by Quiara Allegria Hudes and directed by Christiana Molldrem Harkulich. The play traces the legacy of war through three generations of a Puerto Rican family, and focuses on Elliot, 19, a wounded hometown hero back from service in Iraq.