WKU inducts 2021 ROTC Hall of Fame members on Veterans Day

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Western Kentucky University honored our veterans Thursday with a wreath-laying ceremony, followed by the ROTC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

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Three veterans from WKU’s ROTC program were inducted including LTC (Ret.) Bill Pearson, LTC (Ret.) John Perkins and LTC (Ret.) William Willis.

“I support every cadet here, I want to thank you and praise you for your commitment even though you know, there’s an ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Even though in the back of your mind, you may be there. My PR brothers that I pledged with them, I was impressed by so much. Vietnam was on every TV, every night in the dorms, but the guys I’ve worked with-- like Bill Spending, Ron Diller, Greg Lowe, Bill Pearson, there was never the question, am I gonna have to go it was when am I going?” expressed Willis who served in the U.S. Army.

Willis earned one of the first Army ROTC scholarships at WKU. He also served in Vietnam.

“When I left Western University here in Kentucky, I left confident I was going to be an excellent officer. I was going to be able to do what came my way. And the reason was-- because the ROTC department and the staff, that professional to work with me on the Hill on the academic side, gave me such a sound foundation. I knew that when I left here, I was going to make it, I was going to be successful,” said Willis.

The late John Perkins graduated in 1941 and passed away in 2010. He was a member of the Kentucky National Guard and the WKU ROTC program. Read more about Perkins HERE.

Bill Pearson graduated in 1971 and earned a high award for valor during his 1967 tour in Vietnam. Read more about Pearson HERE.

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