As I had a year ago, after visiting family members during Easter weekend, I did some extra traveling before heading home. This time, instead of going south into the Carolinas and Georgia, I went westward and northward, making a brief stop at my alma mater, Virginia Tech. It had been a few years since I had visited the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. On the north side of a large open area called the Drill Field is a memorial to the students who were killed in April 2007, which includes 32 stones laid out in a semicircle, one for each victim. Behind the memorial is Burruss Hall, the main administrative building, and a Blacksburg Transit bus.
Here's a closer look at part of the memorial, with Williams Hall in the background.
This is the eastern end of the semicircle of 32 stones, again with Burruss Hall behind it.
Flanking the 32 stones were two benches, of which this is one. Each has the same inscription and purpose.
I wandered into an area called the Upper Quad, where I came across this memorial to VT alumni who fought in World War I, which was constructed after I graduated. On the far side of the sidewalk is the old Mechanical Laboratory building. When I was a student, there was a laundromat in its basement. Behind and looming above the Laboratory is the steam power plant. To the right is Thomas Hall, which was a dormitory during my student years, but later converted into an office building.
Before I left, I took one last picture. This is the west end of the semicircle of 32 stones, with Burruss Hall in the background left and Patton Hall on the right.
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