BOONE–Appalachian State University will host a Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 11, beginning at 7:30 a.m.

The ceremony will be held at the Veterans Memorial located on the west side of Dougherty Administration Building. A continental breakfast will follow in the Dougherty Administration Building lobby. The public is invited.

Guest speaker will be retired Lt. Col. Ron Branch. Branch is a former chair of the Department of Military Science and Leadership at Appalachian. He currently is general manager of University Highlands student apartments.

A native of Fayetteville, Branch earned his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian. He also was a cadet in the ROTC program on campus. His 24-year military career included assignments in Korea and Germany and U.S. assignments in Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Washington, D.C., where Branch served with the Joint Staff in the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon.

His awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Joint Meritorious Service Medal, Army Meritorious Service Medal, and the North Carolina and Virginia Meritorious Service medals. He earned the Airborne, Ranger, Pathfinder and Expert Infantryman badges.

Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day, was established to honor veterans who had served in World War I. In 1954, Congress expanded the observance to include all U.S. veterans.