Fellow Green Berets look at the tributes posted on the Veterans Memorial wall in memory of Robert Pirelli, CJ'01, killed in Iraq in August.
Recently redeployed from Iraq, the soldiers looked worn but stoic, their faces revealing little. Nearly twenty Green Berets—the men of U.S. Special Operations Detachment 072, 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces group—came from two thousand miles away to say goodbye to their friend and fellow Green Beret, Robert Pirelli, CJ’01.
Pirelli—a staff sergeant who served as an engineer and demolition specialist in the detachment, based in Fort Carson, Colorado—died in northwestern Iraq in August 2007. His comrades couldn’t attend his funeral, held in Franklin, Massachusetts, Pirelli’s hometown, because they were still on duty in Iraq. After the team was redeployed, however, the men contacted Northeastern. They wanted to honor Pirelli by attending the university’s second annual Veterans Remembrance celebration.
So, on Saturday, November 10, 2007, the detachment stood at parade rest behind the seated guests as Robert Pirelli’s name was added to the university’s Veterans Memorial. Pirelli is the second member of the Northeastern community to be killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first, Felix Del Greco Jr., a member of the class of 2005, died in Baghdad in April 2004.
Dedicated in November 2006, the Veterans Memorial is the first monument to recognize all the university’s war dead, the culmination of a building effort led by Board of Trustees chair Neal Finnegan, BA’61, H’98. A wall made of polished stone holds a series of metal plates resembling military dog tags, each containing a veteran’s name and identification. Reflecting the randomness with which death takes those in war, the 279 tags are arranged in no particular order, neither chronologically nor alphabetically.
At last November’s ceremony, President Aoun noted the traditionally “uneasy” relationship between academia and the military, saying that Northeastern may be unique among New England colleges because of how it has embraced the military beyond “merely accepting [U.S. Department of Defense] research dollars.” The university’s successful ROTC program and the presence of the Veterans Memorial at the center of campus are examples of this commitment, the president said.
Finnegan spoke on behalf of the Pirelli family, who were the day’s honored guests. And, in an emotional moment, Pirelli’s captain, Jason Van Camp, described the twenty-nine-year-old’s bravery and the ambush that took his life.
Following the ceremony, the Green Berets spent the afternoon with Pirelli’s family and visited his grave in Franklin. Pirelli is survived by his parents, Nancy and Robert, and two siblings, Stacey and Shawn.
Lieutenant Colonel John McClellan, professor of military science, contributed to the reporting of this story.