Members of the community can honor veterans and active members of the military at 11 a.m. Friday at the flagpole across from Altgeld Hall.

All are welcome to attend this event, sponsored by the NIU Veterans Club.

The ceremony will be led by club president John Galan, a clinical laboratory sciences major. Galan is currently a reservist and platoon sergeant with a medical detachment for the National Guard. He served as a medic with a field artillery unit in Iraq in 2003, and has served in the U.S. Army for seven years.

“I like serving because I feel we’re getting something,” Galan said in a press release. “I don’t feel like it’s a sacrifice because what we’re getting back is so valuable, like freedom and liberty.”

Other speakers will include Craig Engel, commander of NIU’s ROTC and chair of the department of military sciences, and club adviser Jon Lehuta.

Usually ceremonies take place at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month. Since Veterans Day falls on a weekend, the ceremony will be held Nov. 9.