USC honors alumni who died in line of duty with plaque at stadium

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The University of South Carolina Alumni Association unveiled a plaque on Monday to honor Gamecocks who were killed while serving in the military.

The new plaque is located at Williams-Brice Stadium and honors more than 300 Gamecocks who served.

The plaque reads, “This plaque is presented in memory of USC Gamecocks who gave their lives in uniformed service to our nation. The nation re them as ‘heroes’ but they were more than that. They were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers that answered their Nation’s call to serve in harm’s way. They were selflessly devoted to a cause greater than themselves and served with valor unknown to the common man.”

“They asked not about creed nor color, just the price for the oppressed to shed the shackles of tyranny. When told the price could only be paid in blood, they answered “Then let it be mine so others may live. We hope that all who see this take pride that such lived and stood where you stand now,” the plaque continued.

The plaque ends with the words “And may we all offer, in iration and appreciation, the most heartfelt toast of ‘Forever to Thee’ in their memory.”

Jay Alverson, former chair of the USC Veterans Alumni Council, said the history and honorable service of those men and woman will be forever ed through the plaques.

“As long as someone is speaking your name, then your memory is not dead. You’re not gone from this earth, and so this is just another way for us to those people and to keep their memory alive,” he said. “They’ll know that this university took time to them, and that they are important to us, they’re important to the Alumni Association, and they’re important to the entire Gamecock nation.”

The unveiling of the plaques is giving an extra boost towards a bigger project, the renovation of the World War I Memorial Building.

“In the downstairs area there is going to be a museum. Included in that museum is going to be a moving wall, kind of like a wall of fame, where people can submit names, stories about their loved ones, about any other veterans that they know,” Alverson said.

The project will cost between $5 and $7 million dollars and take five to 10 years to complete. Until then, memorial plaques will display gratitude to the ones who helped protect the world.

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