The family of a fallen U.S. serviceman and former West Virginia University student will present WVU officials with his Medal of Honor during a special ceremony at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, in the Evansdale Residential Complexs Blue and Gold Ballrooms. The event falls during Homecoming Week activities on campus.

Thomas Bennett, who attended WVU in the mid 1960s, served as a medic in the Vietnam War. As a conscientious objector, he served in active duty but refused to carry a gun for religious reasons.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously after he died Feb. 11, 1969, trying to reach a wounded man in combat near Pleiku, South Vietnam.

This is only the second time the medal has been presented to an American who entered the military but refused to carry a gun.

A Morgantown native, Bennett graduated from Morgantown High School. He attended WVU from 1966-67, and was a leader on the WVU Student Code of Conduct Committee. He often moderated discussions between students and townspeople about student rights, Appalachian poverty, civil rights and the Vietnam War.

A Sunday school teacher, Bennett was president of WVUs Campus Ecumenical Council and organized ecumenical Sunday worship services at the Towers Residence Halls. Bennett House, home of the University Christian Council, is named in his memory.

The Vietnam War forced Bennett and his contemporaries to make difficult choices, he wrote in a letter home.”All young men of my generation face being drafted into the military or seeking an alternative to that obligation,”he said.

When Bennett was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968, he became a conscientious objector on religious grounds and refused to carry a gun.”I might have to die for a cause I vehemently disagree with,”he said at the time.

A few months before his death, Bennett restated his loyalty to both his country and his religious beliefs.

“While working for any change, I will continue to serve my country,”he wrote.”There is plenty of hope for changes and for America. I will stick with her.”

WVU President David C. Hardesty, Jr. said,”We are overwhelmed at the magnitude of this tremendous gift that the family of Tom Bennett is presenting WVU . His medal will be displayed in a place of honor so that his tremendous courage and compassion will inspire others.”

Hardesty, Ken Gray, WVU vice president for Student Affairs, and George and James Bennett, Toms brothers, as well as student leaders will speak at the Friday ceremony.

The medal will be permanently displayed in in a secure spot in the Bennett Tower.Bennett Tower was named for the former WVU student in 1990.

Those attending the ceremony can park at the Coliseum. WVU shuttle buses will be available to take participants from the Coliseum Blue Gate to Towers beginning at 1 p.m. the day of the event. They will remain operating until an hour after the ceremony to return participants to their cars.

For more information, contact Kathy Kerzak, 304-293-8024.