Each year during
Homecoming week, San Diego State University holds a wreath-laying ceremony honoring alumni who have died in the line of duty during the nation’s military conflicts. This year’s event takes place at 9 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 4 at the campus War Memorial on Aztec Green, west of the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union.
Commander of the U. S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral
Scott H. Swift (’79), who serves as this year’s honorary Homecoming chair, will deliver the keynote address.
Taking place exactly one week before Veterans Day, the ceremony marks the 20-year anniversary of the War Memorial’s 1996 dedication. This year, four new names will be added to the monument, joining the 235 names previously etched into the face of the granite obelisk.
U.S. Marine Corps Captain Jason James Paynter
U.S. Marine Corps Captain
Jason James Paynter (’01), who held a management degree from the College of Business Administration, served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his more than 20 years in the military. A flight instructor based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, he was killed April 12, 2010 on a training mission over Georgia.
Captain Michael Jack Crawford
Captain
Michael Jack Crawford (’64), an alumnus of the university’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, was an Air Force pilot who held the Distinguished Service Medal after serving as a navigator during two tours of duty in Vietnam. He was killed on May 15, 1970 during a training flight at Arizona’s Luke Air Force Base while preparing for his third tour.
First Lieutenant Jason William Davis
First Lieutenant
Jason William Davis (’03), a graduate of the College of Business Administration, received his first assignment as a commissioned officer with the SDSU ROTC program where he was awarded the Air Force Achievement Medal for his outstanding accomplishments. Davis died on Jan. 10, 2006 in an Air Force jet crash while training in Georgia.
U.S. Navy Lieutenant Christian John Hescock
U.S. Navy Lieutenant
Christian John Hescock held a computer science degree from the University of San Diego and was a former extended studies student at SDSU. He died on Sept. 24, 2007 piloting a helicopter in a training flight on the island of Guam.
The wreath-laying ceremony will be followed by a reception at the
Joan and Art Baron Veterans Center. Both events are open to the public. For more information and to RSVP, please visit
sdsualumni.org/WarMemorial2016.