U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Kris Standering of Weapons Company 124 rings bell during dedication. The added names to the memorial are seen to the left on the wall. (Photos: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

An impressive ceremony held appropriately on Veterans Day weekend gave added meaning to Bowling Green
State University’s Memorial Hall.
The building was dedicated in 1961 in memory of 78 BGSU students who had lost their lives while serving
the United States during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Saturday’s ceremony recognized 25
more BGSU graduates or former students who died while serving their country in the 50 years since
Memorial Hall was dedicated.
An expanded plaque was unveiled listing the names of those who died from the Vietnam War through the
current war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
One of the 25 names was Major Clyde Wilson Enderle – the father of Lt. Col. Kimberly Enderle, who had the
honor of being the guest speaker at Saturday’s ceremony.
She was only a toddler when the helicopter her father was piloting was shot down by enemy ground fire in
Vietnam in 1970. He was a 1959 BGSU Air Force ROTC graduate.
His daughter graduated from BGSU 29 years later, and was commissioned a second lieutenant through BGSU’s
Army ROTC. She went into Army aviation, served two years in Iraq and one of her more recent command
assignments was as battalion commander of a Black Hawk helicopter battalion.
"My father was 33 years old when he was killed in action. He left a wife and three children, ages 4,
6 and 7 years old," she told the 200 people attending Saturday’s ceremony. "In addition, we
lost unknown potential for what he could have been."

Lt. Col. Kimberly Enderle speaking during dedication.

During her talk she focused on "three enduring truths about our nation’s service personnel"-
patriotism, service before self and sacrifice.
"What Americans value more than anything is freedom. It is America’s greatest principle," she
said before reading a poem by Charles M. Province entitled "It Is The Soldier" to illustrate
how people view the role of the American soldier in protecting the country’s freedom.
Each of the fallen heroes honored on Saturday "displayed unsurpassed patriotism and absolute love of
country. They loved their families, their freedom and the American way of life, and more importantly
they were willing to defend that principle with their life."
She quoted from Toby Keith’s "American Soldier" to illustrate how each of the men honored
placed service before self – "When liberty’s in jeopardy I will always do what’s right."
Enderle added that "soldiers not only must be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, but every day
they have to make other sacrifices – some small and some big."
Saturday’s "Dedication Honoring the Fallen Heroes of Bowling Green State University" was a
presentation by the American Legion and the American Legion Buckeye Boys State. It coincided with the
75th anniversary of Buckeye Boys State.
Gerald White, director American Legion Buckeye Boys State, gave credit to David M. Ridenour, a 1970 BGSU
Army ROTC graduate, for being the driving force behind the two-year effort to recognize the 25
additional service men.
White called Ridenour the "point man" on "a personal mission" to update the plaque.

Jean Lanning of Bowling Green pauses during dedication.

Among the other people recognized for helping with the ceremony was Jennifer Miller, who designed the
printed program which gave summaries of 25 men being honored – including her brother, Lt. Col Kevin
Sonnenberg of McClure, a 1988 BGSU graduate who died in an Air Force F-16 plane crash in Iraq in 2007.

The most recent death among the 25 men honored was Lt. Col. Thomas P. Belkofer of Wood County, a 1992
Army ROTC graduate, who died in Afghanistan when his NATO convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber on May
18, 2010.
And one of the 25 men died during the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon – Chief Warrant Officer William Ruth. A
1971 graduate who received his master’s degree from BGSU in 1973, he was assigned to the Office of the
Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel in the Pentagon. Ruth had presided over his first meeting as
commander of his local VFW post on Sept. 10, 2001 – the night before he was killed in the terrorist
attack.