The free Veterans Day celebration will take place from 8 to 11 a.m. in Savage Arena and is open to local veterans, members of the military and their families.

“My respect for my brothers and sisters who served with me, before me, and those who will follow is deep and passionate,” said Dr. Thomas Papadimos, medical director of the Jacobs Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center, professor and associate dean for interprofessional immersive simulation, and director of anesthesiology critical care in the Department of Anesthesiology in the UT College of Medicine and Life Sciences. “Having played the roles of physician and warrior, I could not help realizing that many of the basic tenants of medicine and war have much in common.”

A U.S. Navy retiree with 21 years of service, Papadimos will give welcome remarks at the program.

He served in Nea Makri, Greece; Naples, Italy; San Diego; Washington, D.C.; Norfolk, Va.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Jacksonville, Fla. Papadimos was recalled for Operation Desert Storm, and he served in Hawaii. He retired as a captain in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps in 2001.

The keynote speaker will be Maj. Daniel Wendolowski, inspector and instructor with the Weapons Company 1/24 in the U.S. Marine Corps.

A native of Cleveland, Wendolowski was commissioned from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2006 and reported to the Fleet Marine Corps in 2007. Throughout the next 10 years, his assignments included deployments to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and Okinawa, Japan, as a company commander in 2014. In addition, Wendolowski served on the Alpha Company Fleet Antiterrorism Team, Marine Corps Security Forces, and conducted three deployments aboard Naval Base Guantanamo Bay Cuba, Naval Base Rota, Spain, and reinforced the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a Yemen during September 2013.

To celebrate the 242nd anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps, there will be a ceremonial cake-cutting.

The UT Concert Choir will sing the national anthem, and the UT Student Jazz Combo will play before the program. In addition, fourth-graders from Waterville Primary School will perform military songs.

Free parking will be available in lots 3, 5 and 6 near Savage Arena.

This year’s event is sponsored by The University of Toledo, the American Red Cross of Northwest Ohio, the Lucas County Commissioners and the Lucas County Veterans Service Commission.

For more information on the event, contact the UT Office of Special Events at 419.530.2200 or specialevents@utoledo.edu.