FROM THE ARCHIVES
A Special Place
MMA's Wall of Honor pays tribute to those who served.
At the outset, Missouri Military Academy’s Wall of Honor was built to celebrate the service of MMA alumni who have served in the U.S. military. It has become so much more. Tucked between Barnard Hall and Ekern Cadet Health Center, the Wall on Veterans Plaza is a point of pride for the Academy, a place of reflection and reconnection for alumni and cadets alike. The nine-word epigraph, stretched across three panels, says it all: In Honor Of Those Who Served Around The World. “It’s a living memorial,” says Marine MajGen Robert Flanagan, who served as MMA president when the Wall was constructed. “Of all the things I did in my time as president of MMA, the Wall is the most special.”
Set in Stone Built in 2010, the tall, stone Wall of Honor recognizes the more than 1,400 MMA alumni, faculty, family, friends and staff who have served in the armed forces. Their names are engraved on Corian marble plaques and filled with gold resin. In addition to the names, the Wall carries large insignias of five branches of the U.S. armed forces and is flanked by memorial benches on Veterans Plaza. (Note: Funds are currently being raised to add the insignia for Space Force, the military’s newest branch, to the Wall.) It all came about during a springtime stroll around the campus by Flanagan and his executive officer, Air Force Lt. Col. Jim Medley.
“We thought it was sad we didn’t have a way to honor the service of the many alums, faculty and staff at MMA,” Medley says. “The memorial chapel honors those who were killed in action, but there was nothing for those who served. So Bob and I walked around to find an appropriate place for a way to recognize those who served.” Flanagan recalls a desire to reconnect the Academy with its military heritage. “After all,” he says, “the school’s name is ‘military.’ ” The two administrators sought the advice of two other MMA staffers — Facilities Director Greg Morton and Senior Army Instructor Paul Gillette, who also served as alumni director — to come up with an apt Continued
Missouri Military Academy
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