The names inscribed in the Memorial Union’s Gold Star Hall have been joined by a simple reminder of America’s ongoing military operations.

A blue star banner — the type often seen hanging on front porches or windows of houses missing a family member at war — now hangs in the Memorial Union as a symbol of remembrance for students who have been called to active military duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The banner is the result of one wife’s determination for her husband and his fellow soldiers to be remembered on campus.

Joset Etzel, graduate student in electrical and computer engineering, is one of many with a banner hanging at home. Hers honors her husband, John Smith. She wanted the same to be done at Iowa State for other students who had to leave campus behind. After contacting the American Legion, she found out corporate banners are offered for such situations.

“I played phone tag with the people at the Union after that, but when I finally explained what the banner was, they were very excited about it,” Etzel said.

Her husband has been gone since December and is currently stationed in Iraq working on surveillance, she said.

“I have no idea when he’s coming home, and I don’t even know exactly where he is,” Etzel said.

Etzel said she believed many students had forgotten about the active soldiers and that this would be a constant reminder the war was not over.

“I had someone actually say to me six months ago, ‘Oh, Iraq’s all done, right?'” she said. “It’s important to realize that people are still over there, and people here are still involved in it. And people need to remember that.

“My opinion is it’s an unnecessary war, and that it’s especially important for [the soldiers] to know that here at home we are paying attention to their sacrifices.”

Jonathan Bracewell, freshman in political science, just returned from spending six months in Afghanistan with the Iowa National Guard. He emphasized the importance of students keeping the soldiers in mind.

“It’s easy not to miss somebody when you just don’t see them anymore,” he said. “I think it’s a great thing to recognize those people because it is a huge sacrifice to take six, 12 or sometimes even 18 months out of your life and put everything on hold to go serve your country.”

Bracewell said he encourages students to use the banner as a constant reminder of students who have been called to duty and to keep them in their thoughts.

He said he was happy to see it go up because it brings some camaraderie among the students at Iowa State involved in the military.

“It’s not a selfish thing, like if we were deployed, we’d be happy about being remembered. It just makes us think of everyone still over there and keep them in our thoughts and prayers,” he said.

Etzel said her husband was happy to hear about the banner, but she doesn’t want it to have to hang forever.

“I would hope that it won’t have to stay up all the time. I think that it’s appropriate when people have been called for active duty. Hopefully, that won’t be going on indefinitely,” she said.