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In the keynote address, John Driscoll, a retired brigadier general of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, stressed that our country’s freedoms are only kept alive through our willingness to defend them.
American rights and freedoms are precious, John Driscoll said in his keynote speech at Northeastern University’s annual Veterans Day ceremony, reminding the audience that they require active tending and constant, vigilant safeguarding.
“Our freedom is not a given, nor free,” the retired brigadier general of the Massachusetts Army National Guard told the assembled crowd of current and former service members, Northeastern ROTC cadets, faculty, staff and members of the public. “It is born by those we come to recognize here today for their service.”
Driscoll, a former Northeastern ROTC cadet who earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the university in 1989, stressed the common ground of those core values, even in times of political upheaval.
“Today, the world is the most dangerous it’s been since the 1930s,” he said. “Aggressive adversaries seek to upend the international order and alter the world to their own outlook. Our nation continues to need women and men of character, with courage.”
Women and men, he said, like the 600 student, faculty and staff veterans at Northeastern University.
“Our adversaries denigrate America because we are free,” he said. “Despite all our internal political drama, we believe in the rule of law and trust our citizens. … Today, as polarizing as one thinks our country is, never give up on America.”
Driscoll’s comments capped off the ceremony, held each year in front of the Veterans Memorial at Neal F. Finnegan Plaza on the Boston campus.
The program included a slate of veteran speakers, including Mike Manning, a retired U.S. Army colonel and Northeastern professor; Andy McCarty, a 2012 graduate and the director of Northeastern’s Dolce Center for the Advancement of Veterans and Servicemembers; and Jack Cline, Northeastern’s vice president for federal relations.
The 45-minute ceremony was focused on themes of sacrifice, as well as Northeastern’s longstanding commitment to supporting those called to service.
Manning, who served in the Army, told the story of a combat veteran who deployed overseas eight times and spent his breaks between tours of duty in Iraq building houses for Habitat for Humanity.
McCarty focused on the broad, often unacknowledged diversity in veterans’ ranks.
“It could be easy to think of veterans as a monolith, especially on a day like today,” he said. “It would be easy, but it would be incorrect. Not all veterans have the same ethnicity, worship the same, vote for the same party, or love the same way. The service members attending Northeastern right now are pursuing everything from certificates in project management to Ph.D.s in physics.
“They are immigrants and native-born citizens,” McCarty continued. “Some are carrying out military operations in far distant corners of the world, submitting assignments in the few precious moments they have between completing a mission.”
In his remarks, Cline shared how attending Northeastern after the conclusion of his military service helped him through the next phase of his life.
“The faculty, staff and students welcomed me and helped my transition from an active duty Marine to a G.I. Bill student,” he said. “I enjoyed every moment along the way. A few years ago, when I learned of an opportunity to return to Northeastern and again be a part of this great institution, I didn’t hesitate.”
Cline then recognized special guest Ernest Washington Jr., a veteran and Northeastern graduate who is now president and CEO of Vanguard Parking General Services Corporation.
As a member of the Marines, Washington earned a Purple Heart medal for his service in the Vietnam War, as well as distinctions including the National Defense Service Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Medal with Palm for combat heroism.
Now, “Mr. Washington is a successful small business owner here in Boston and has worked with Northeastern for a half a century,” Cline said. “We thank him and his family and friends for being our guests this afternoon.”
Also during the ceremony, Finnegan, an emeritus chair of Northeastern’s Board of Trustees, gave the Joseph H. Hefflon Yellow Ribbon Award (named after a 1915 graduate who died in World War I) to the Phi Gamma Phi Alumni Association for its scholarship and funding support for veteran students. Bill Fontaine, a 1989 Northeastern graduate and president of the association, accepted the award.
Student Julianna Zannikos opened the event with a powerful rendition of the national anthem, with members of the crowd singing along. Host Jacob McGee, a Marine veteran and president of the Northeastern Student Veterans Organization, then welcomed the crowd.
“Northeastern has a proud tradition of military service, and we’re grateful for the contributions of our student veterans, alumni, faculty and staff who have served,” he said.
McGee then gave a special shout out to the Marines, which celebrated its 249th birthday on Sunday. Northeastern students Victoria Sekenski, an ROTC cadet, and Alexis, a specialist in the Massachusetts Army National Guard, then placed a wreath on the memorial.
The Nor’easters student a capella group closed out the program with the “Armed Forces Medley,” comprised of the songs from each of the oldest five branches of the U.S. military.