photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Harrison Manlove, left, speaks with University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod on Nov. 11, 2022, at a Veterans Day ceremony. Manlove, as a KU student, did research that revealed the list of those honored on KU's Vietnam Memorial needed to be updated.

A star was delivered on Friday at the University of Kansas.

KU leaders gathered on Veterans Day to rededicate the Vietnam Memorial on the KU campus and to add a star next to the name of Major Glenn McCubbin, a KU student who died during the Vietnam War.

McCubbin had an extra star placed beside his name because for years the memorial listed him as missing in action. But KU recently learned that McCubbin’s remains had actually been identified. Instead of removing the star that listed a soldier as missing in action, KU adds a star to the memorial signifying the soldier’s return.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A wreath was laid next to a wall of names, including that of Glenn McCubbin. McCubbin had an extra star added beside his name to recognize that his remains had been found and he no longer is listed as missing in action.

And in this case, the star also signifies some good sleuthing work by a former KU student. McCubbin, who was in an aircraft that was shot down over North Vietnam in 1968, for years was listed by the U.S. government as missing in action. His remains, however, were identified in 2006. But KU didn’t learn of that until Harrison Manlove, a cadet in KU’s Army ROTC program, arrived on the scene.

Manlove frequently ran by the Vietnam Memorial, which is near the intersection of West Campus Road and Memorial Drive. On a run last year, he noted several names on the memorial and decided to research them out of his own curiosity. He ended up finding that McCubbin’s remains had been identified by government officials and that he should no longer be listed as missing in action on the memorial.

He turned the information over to KU officials and figured they would update the memorial and that would be it.

“This isn’t what I expected at all,” Manlove said of Friday’s ceremony, which included the rededication of the memorial, a crowd of a few dozen people, remarks from the chancellor, and members of McCubbin’s family in attendance. “I just wanted to make sure he got that second dedication, and that people knew that he came home, and that the family knew that we knew he came home.”

Family members, who had been notified of the identification of McCubbin’s remains years earlier, said the effort that Manlove and KU went to to set the record straight on the KU memorial was much appreciated.

“It means so much to the family that people still care,” said Michelle Hack, a niece of McCubbin’s, who was in attendance on Friday. “For all veterans, it is important that we try to give all of them (all) the grace and gratitude that we can.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Trumpeter Sharon Toulouse stands at the ready during a Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11, 2022 on the University of Kansas campus.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Members of a pipe and drum band from the Kansas City, Kansas, police department play at a Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11, 2022, on the University of Kansas campus.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod speaks at a Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 11, 2022 at the Vietnam Memorial on the KU campus.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Members of the military sit in the crowd at a Veterans Day ceremony on the University of Kansas campus on Nov. 11, 2022.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Members of the color guard stand at attention at a Veterans Day ceremony at the University of Kansas on Nov. 11, 2022.