memorialday
Adam Beatty (left), vice president of the Student Veterans Organization, and Stephen Brainard (right), of the NU ROTC Alumni Society, lay a wreath at Northeastern's Veterans Memorial during a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday morning. Photo by Kristie Gillooly.

Northeastern’s Stu­dent Vet­erans Orga­ni­za­tion and the NU ROTC Alumni Society held a Memo­rial Day cer­e­mony on Monday morning to honor the men and women who have given their lives in mil­i­tary ser­vice to America.

The event, held at the university’s Vet­erans Memo­rial in the heart of campus, con­nected gen­er­a­tions of cur­rent North­eastern stu­dents and grad­u­ates. Michael Trudeau — president-​​elect of the Stu­dent Vet­erans Orga­ni­za­tion, Northeastern’s chapter of Stu­dent Vet­erans for America — served as master of ceremonies.

“The true meaning of this day is to remember those who have given the ulti­mate sac­ri­fice and gave their lives so all of us can be free,” Trudeau said in opening remarks.

Dennis Amblo, SSH’12, the out­going pres­i­dent of the orga­ni­za­tion, deliv­ered the keynote address. Amblo grew up in a mil­i­tary family and has served two tours in Iraq. He explained how his own mil­i­tary expe­ri­ence has given him a greater under­standing of the meaning of this day, espe­cially after he returned from combat and attended a Memo­rial Day cer­e­mony back home in Massachusetts.

“When I saw the older vet­erans standing in the crowd saluting, eyes swelling with pride for brothers lost in combat, I real­ized what this day really was,” he said.

The cer­e­mony con­tinued with a flag low­ering, and Adam Beatty, vice pres­i­dent of the Stu­dent Vet­erans Orga­ni­za­tion, and Stephen Brainard, BA’64, of the NU ROTC Alumni Asso­ci­a­tion, laid a wreath at the Vet­erans Memorial.

In closing remarks, William Mal­oney, BA’68, explained how the NU ROTC Alumni Asso­ci­a­tion and the Stu­dent Vet­erans Orga­ni­za­tion con­nected fol­lowing the Vet­erans Day cer­e­mony last year to strengthen their relationship.

Mal­oney, who was a member of the Vet­erans Memo­rial Com­mittee, said the memo­rial com­mem­o­rates the mem­bers of the North­eastern com­mu­nity who have given their lives in ser­vice to the country. He said the memorial’s metal plates rep­re­senting dog tags worn by ser­vice mem­bers sig­nify the memory of each individual’s great sac­ri­fice in the country’s mil­i­tary con­flicts from World War I to the present.

“There is not an old sec­tion and a new sec­tion. We will always be one,” he said.

Mal­oney also thanked Chuck Doughty, director of land­scape facil­i­ties at North­eastern, and the rest of the Facil­i­ties staff for their hard work and ded­i­ca­tion to main­taining the memo­rial in pris­tine con­di­tion. The memo­rial was ded­i­cated on Vet­erans Day in 2006.