A memorial was unveiled Tuesday at the University of Northern Iowa honoring the school’s only Medal of Honor recipient. Robert J. Hibbs graduated from the Cedar Falls school in 1964. Lieutenant Hibbs died while providing cover for a wounded comrade during a patrol in Vietnam in 1966. The head of UNI’s Military Science program, Colonel Michael Depuglio, says the monument is fitting tribute to Hibbs.The memorial consists of a lighted flagpole and a commemorative plaque. Jim Stubblefield, a medic in Hibbs’ platoon, flew in from New Mexico for the ceremony. Stubblefield says it gave him a chance to meet Hibbs’ mother and bring closure to the whole situation.Members of UNI’s R-O-T-C program raised 17-thousand dollars to pay for the memorial.
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