UA remembers Rotarian Tom Blair

Posted by Douglas Hausknecht on Nov 12, 2016
 
The University of Akron remembered Rotarian Tom Blair, even though they didn’t know he was a Rotarian.  But we do.
 

At the Veterans Day outdoor ceremonies, President Matthew Wilson told the story of our Korean War Memorial, located on the east lawn of Bierce Library, facing Olin Hall. It was dedicated 15 years ago today.
UA alumnus Thomas Blair, a successful local businessman, was a Marine and an infantryman during the Korean War. He worked with artist Carl Floyd to design the memorial, and paid its $160,000 cost.
The monument features a semi-circle of five columns, each adorned with the symbol of one of the branches of the United States Armed Forces. A low, white
dome rises out of the ground, representing the Earth as it extends up from the 38th Parallel North — the border between North and South Korea when hostilities began in 1950.
 
On top of the dome is a large metal rectangle, inscribed with:
  • the story of that war
  • a map of the region
  • the number of U.S. servicemen and women who were killed, wounded and missing there, as well as corresponding numbers for United Nations troops.
The metal block is dark and rusted from rain and snow. That rust has flowed onto the white dome and the ground — just as Blair envisioned. The block represents the machinery of warfare, and the rust represents how war stains the world.
Blair died not long after the memorial was finished, but his hope for future generations remains clear.
The block bears the words, "The location of this memorial on The University of Akron campus has been selected to preserve the importance of this event for those who did not live through it."
If you look for Blair’s name on the memorial, you won’t find it. He didn’t intend it to be a memorial to himself, but an educational tool. Maybe that helps explain why this university is a bit different when it comes to veterans.
 
The sacrifice of our service men and women is not a distant concept, or a historical footnote to us. That sacrifice is very real because veterans are part of who we are as a university.
Veterans of the Civil War helped to found this institution. Veterans from the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan conflicts sit in our classrooms and stadiums. Veterans are what our ROTC students will become, when their service is complete.
 
 
Douglas Hausknecht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marketing and International Business
CBA Assessment Officer
 
 
Sponsors