A Plastic Gator Helps Honor Our Troops

Veterans Day is a time to honor heroes who have fought for our country and also remember the ones serving today.  A group of colleagues at Mercer University is making sure their co-worker fighting overseas knows they’re thinking of him every day in the march of the gator. 

It all started with a tiny toy.

“Confusion at first. People always wonder why there’s a plastic gator in the hallway,” said Rachel May, Director of Employee Wellness at Mercer University.

That would be “Freedom” the gator.

“Unfortunately he is a graduate of the University of Florida so that’s his mascot so that’s how we came up with the gator,” explained Adrian Collier, Assistant Director of Employee Wellness at Mercer University.

Lt. Col. Michael Junod left for Afghanistan on July 1, 2011. His colleagues wanted him to know he was missed.