An ROTC honor guard leads the ceremony.
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Breaking new ground for vets
NU will honor Huskies who served
Silver spades were planted in fresh earth outside
Northeastern's Egan Research Center to set in motion the building of a
veterans memorial, honoring the university's men and women who were called
to serve their country.
Fittingly held on Flag Day, the groundbreaking drew about 160 guests to
a ceremony for a future monument meant to inspire reflection and remembrance.
"Three hundred names will be on that monument," of Huskies whose absence
"left a hole in the Northeastern family," said Neal Finnegan, chairman
of the board of trustees. "We gather to remember everyone who once walked
this campus and studied in our lecture halls … This is a place where we
can contemplate the meaning of duty and sacrifice."
That list will include the name of student Felix Del Greco who was killed
on patrol in Baghdad in 2004, said Finnegan, paying tribute to the soldier's
parents and sister, who joined in the groundbreaking.
The cost of war in lives lost should not be forgotten, said President
Freeland. "We should look upon this memorial with the hope and conviction
that we can reduce the future loss of military conflict," he said.
To those who have answered the call, a great deal of thanks and recognition
is due, he added. "In the coming months, as this memorial rises from the
ground, we will sense those who once stood among us," Freeland said. "Their
values and sense of duty say a lot about who we were then, and who we
still are."
"The real significance is that this is a beginning," said retired Marine
Gen. Richard Neal '65.
He recalled that when orator Edward Everett spoke at Gettysburg in 1863,
his speech was more than 13,000 words and lasted two hours. He was followed
by President Abraham Lincoln, who delivered a memorable address in only
two minutes. It is impossible to do justice with words to what the brave
soldiers did on behalf of their country, he concluded.
It was at Gettysburg that architecture Chair George Rush remembered being
so awestruck by the vastness of the place where so many had died. With
that memory at the fore of his imagination, he asked monument designers
to keep in mind both the public and private side of loss.
The design, chosen through a competition, offers both. On one side, abstract
images of war will be displayed; the other side will carry the very personal
information of individuals who have died.
In addition to the remarks, singer Tish Standencki performed the national
anthem and "America the Beautiful."
By Susan Salk
The Northeastern Voice