By Neil Offen

noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646

DURHAM -- Along the walkway between Duke Chapel and the university's divinity school, the words are etched on the side of the low limestone wall: "In Honor of Those From Duke University Who Gave Their Lives in the Service of Their County."

Beginning Oct. 23, the wall in what's now called Memorial Quad will not only honor those who gave their lives during World War II. It will also pay tribute to Duke alumni who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in the period since the end of the war against Nazi Germany and Japan.

On the top of the wall there are 12 plaques, listing dozens of Duke graduates -- from Randall Adams, Class of 1937, to Thomas Yarbrough, Class of 1935 -- who died while fighting World War II. Added to those names will be about 50 others, who died in wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and Iraq, and well as others who died in active duty over the past six decades.

Alumni who died in World War I are honored at Brodie Gym, on Duke's East Campus. The idea to honor those who died in service has been "in the works for a number of years," said Michael Schoenfeld, the university's vice president for public affairs. "Over the years, students and faculty and alumni have expressed interest in recognizing and honoring those Duke alumni who perished in the line of duty in military service."

The effort picked up speed a couple of years ago, mainly through the efforts of Matt Jones, a 2009 Duke graduate who was a member of the campus ROTC unit.

But while the idea may have been simple, compiling those 50 or so names has not been.

"When we started meeting in the fall of 2007, we didn't have any of the names," said Sterly Wilder, Duke's associate vice president for alumni affairs. "There really are no records for something like this. Information is not listed that way. We had to think, how do we get the information?"

Working with students in the campus ROTC program, the alumni association sent out e-mails and placed advertisements in alumni publications.

"We've gotten extraordinary response, touching and wonderful stories," Wilder said. "It's really been an incredibly rewarding project."

But the most arduous part was still to come: confirming the information the association had received.

"It was more difficult than you could imagine," said Schoenfeld. "Keeping track is voluntary. Things happen to people, and it can sometime takes years to get back to us.

The association worked with military authorities, particularly the National Personnel Records Center and the Department of Defense.

"We had to think about whole verification process," Wilder said. "We had to make sure all the information we had was correct, and complete."

The old plaques on the wall, honoring the World War II veterans, were put there nearly 20 years ago. They will be taken down now and replaced by the new ones that include the additional names.

The dedication ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. Oct. 23 and will feature remarks by U.S. Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki, a 1976 Duke graduate, and university President Richard Brodhead.