CHARLESTON (AP) -- The first graduate of a South Carolina military college to become an astronaut is returning to his alma mater.

NASA Lt. Col. Randy Bresnik, who graduated from The Citadel in 1989, flew in space last November and returns to Charleston on Thursday to take part in a leadership symposium.

Bresmik will remain for Corps Day weekend, celebrating the birthday of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.

During the weekend, the college puts on a public display of the Big Red flag, believed to have flown over Morris Island in 1861 when Citadel cadets fired on a Union ship trying to resupply Fort Sumter before the Civil War.

The flag recently was loaned to the college after being found in storage at the State Historical Society of Iowa.

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