Remarks at Harvard ROTC Commissioning
 by LTC Timothy Hall, Professor of Military Leadership at MIT
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
03 June 2009

“GENERAL PETRAEUS, PRESIDENT FAUST, DOCTOR GILROY, LIEUTENANT GENERAL CHRISTMAN, LIEUTENANT GENERAL OELSTROM, MAJOR GENERAL DAVENPORT, CAPTAIN HUDNER, ADVOCATES FOR HARVARD ROTC, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, EDUCATORS, ADMINISTRATORS, STUDENTS, HARVARD CLASS OF 1959, FRIENDS, AND FAMILY MEMBERS – WELCOME TO THE 2009 HARVARD UNIVERSITY COMMISSIONING CEREMONY.”

“BEFORE I BEGIN MY REMARKS ABOUT THE CEREMONY YOU ARE ABOUT TO WITNESS, I WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE CAPT THOMAS HUDNER, RECIPIENT OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR DURING THE KOREAN WAR.”

“AS A NAVAL AVIATOR ON DECEMBER 4, 1950, CAPT HUDNER CRASH-LANDED HIS OWN PLANE NEAR THE CHOSIN RESERVOIR IN AN EFFORT TO RESCUE AN AVIATOR WHOSE AIRCRAFT WAS SHOT DOWN. THE AVIATOR THAT CAPT HUDNER ATTEMPTED TO RESCUE WAS ENSIGN JESSE L. BROWN, THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN NAVAL AVIATOR. HE WORKED BRAVELY TO FREE THE INJURED ENSIGN BROWN DESPITE SEVERELY COLD WEATHER. CAPT HUDNER IS JOINING US TODAY BECAUSE OF HIS FAMILY TIES TO HARVARD; HIS FATHER, UNCLE, AND BROTHER ARE HARVARD GRADUATES. DESPITE CAPT HUDNER’S ACCEPTANCE TO HARVARD, CAPT HUDNER OPTED TO ATTEND THE US NAVAL ACADEMY IN ANNAPOLIS. PLEASE JOIN ME IN A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THIS AMERICAN HERO.”

“TODAY’S COMMISSIONING CEREMONY MARKS THE TRANSITION OF THESE OFFICER CANDIDATES IN FRONT OF YOU FROM CADET OR MIDSHIPMEN INTO COMMISSIONED OFFICERS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND MARINE CORPS. THESE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ARE ABOUT TO TAKE AN OATH TO SUPPORT AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. THIS OATH WAS ESTABLISHED ON JUNE 1ST, 1789, AS THE UNITED STATES’ FIRST LAW TO ENSURE CIVIL AND MILITARY LEADERS’ ALLEGIANCE TO THE COUNTRY.”

“THESE EIGHT STUDENTS, AS POST 9-11 VOLUNTEERS, CHOOSE SERVICE TO OTHERS OVER SERVICE TO THEMSELVES DURING THIS PERIOD OF CONFLICT, FULLY KNOWING THEY WILL LIKELY BE IN HARM’S WAY. THESE YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN ARE THE LATEST PERSONS TO CONTINUE HARVARD’S CENTURIES LONG TRADITION OF SERVICE TO THE MILITARY AND THE NATION.”

“HARVARD HAS A LONG HISTORY OF EDUCATING THE NATION’S MILITARY LEADERS AND PROVIDING SUPPORT TO AMERICA’S ARMED FORCES. SOME EXAMPLES OF THIS SERVICE INCLUDE: BARRACKING GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON’S CONTINENTAL ARMY IN HARVARD BUILDINGS DURING THE REVOLUTION; HARVARD GRADUATES CONSTITUTING THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CIVIL WAR’S 20TH MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, ALSO KNOWN AS THE HARVARD REGIMENT; AND CONVERTING THE HARVARD YARD INTO A NAVAL RADIO SCHOOL. HARVARD COUNTS AMONG ITS GRADUATES, 10 MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS AND SIX US ARMY AIR CORPS ACES DURING WORLD WAR I.”

“TODAY, HARVARD’S TRADITION OF SERVICE TO THE NATION CONTINUES THROUGH THESE SOON TO BE COMMISSIONED OFFICERS BEFORE YOU. THEY ARE THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED, “THE LONG CRIMSON LINE.” SINCE 1636, THOUSANDS OF HARVARD GRADUATES HAVE ANSWERED THE CALL TO MILITARY SERVICE, INCLUDING THOSE COMMISSIONING THROUGH THE RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS INTO THE US ARMY, MARINE CORPS, NAVY, AND AIR FORCE. THESE EIGHT OUTSTANDING CADETS AND MIDSHIPMEN WILL BRING GREAT HONOR UPON HARVARD AND WILL PROVIDE OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP TO THE NATION AND TO ITS MILITARY SERVICEMEMBERS AS SECOND LIEUTENANTS IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND MARINE CORPS.”