Photographs by Mark Finkenstaedt
Despite an ice storm, a band of alumni, joined by family and friends—18 in all—visited Arlington National Cemetery to lay wreaths at the graves of 33 Boston College alumni on December 17. Organized by the BC Veterans Alumni Network, the group has been going to the cemetery at Christmas-time since 2009, as part of the national initiative Wreaths Across America.
Colonel George J. Harrington '80 (left) of the Army Reserves National Guard and cochair of the BC Veterans Alumni Network, and Marine Second Lieutenant Ian Kittle, JD'14, lay a wreath on the grave of Lieutenant General John R. Chaisson (1916–72). Chaisson attended Boston College Law School from 1939 to 1940, before enlisting in the Marines. He served in the Pacific (1942–44) and Korea (1953–54), and was the Marine Corps’ chief of staff from 1971 to 1972.
Most volunteers were members of BC Alumni of Washington, D.C.
Dong-Joo Lee '07, a prosecutor for the U.S. Navy, before the grave of a fallen service member.
Meagan Flint, associate director of the Boston College Alumni Association, displayed the Sub Turri portrait of Army First Lieutenant John T. Coll '66 (1944–67), as Colonel George J. Harrington '80 (left) and Army Lieutenant Colonel Brian Cummins '82 (retired) prepare Coll’s wreath. Cummins was the organizer of the day’s tribute.
Pinned to the wreath of Army Captain Joseph Xavier Grant '61 (1940–66) were the insignia of Boston College alumni veterans (left) and the Army’s “Golden Dragons” 14th Infantry Regiment, in which Grant served when he was killed in action in Vietnam.
Colonel George J. Harrington '80, salutes the headstone of Captain Joseph Xavier Grant '61, who received the Medal of Honor.
Boston College alumni, and alumni from other Jesuit colleges (Holy Cross, Fordham) who volunteered with Wreaths Across America, stand behind the grave of First Lieutenant John Thomas Coll Jr. ’66, killed in action in Vietnam.
More than 400,000 veterans are buried at Arlington. On December 17, wreaths were laid on some 245,000 graves.
—University Communications