Led by the Cadet Corps Leadership Program, St. John’s honored the generations of men and women who served and sacrificed to protect our democracy, values, and freedom with a weeklong series of Veterans Day activities.
Through collaboration with the Fine Arts Department, student-artists created veteran-inspired drawings and paintings for the annual Wall of Honor outside Frana Auditorium. In addition to the art, Cadet Corps students spoke with the veterans in their lives and wrote their stories to display with their photos. Many students and faculty paid homage by visiting the wall to view the images and learn about those veterans connected to our cadets. Adjacent to the Wall in Gletner Courtyard, members of the Cadet Corps placed American flags on Veterans’ Hill to honor the more than 1,400 SJC graduates who have served our country in the Armed Forces, and on Thursday, the CCLP hosted the 5th annual Veterans Day 5K through Rock Creek Park. This event was supported by the Men of St. John’s and open to all St. John’s students.
The week culminated on Friday, Veterans Day observed, with the Workout of the Day (WOD) for Warriors and the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. On campus, all physical training classes held “function fitness” workouts in Gallagher Gym. Through physical fitness, students honored this important aspect of military culture. At Arlington, freshman cadets and the senior leadership officers attended SJC’s annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The participants this year included C/COL Sara Fenimore ’24, SJC President Jeff Mancabelli, and honored guest Alvin Perkins ’75, Citadel graduate and retired U.S. Army Field Artillery Colonel.
Following the ceremony, the cadets visited the grave of the McGovern brothers to pay their respects. Robert McGovern ’46 and Jerome McGovern ’48. In January 1951, both brothers were killed in Korean combat, just 11 days apart. The following year, the Army announced the award of the Medal of Honor to First Lieutenant Robert McGovern and the award of the Silver Star to Second Lieutenant Jerome McGovern. Today those medals, along with the accompanying citations and photos of the brothers, are on display in the St. John's College High School Hall of Honor. SJC honors all of those who have served the country in war or peace.
