EXPLORER - La Salle College High School

8 Explorer Autumn 2008
La Salle College High School suffered the loss of
Carl F. Hynek ’63, who died while serving in Vietnam
and is La Salle’s lone representative on the Vietnam
Veteran’s Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. In
April of 2007, we lost 1st Lt. Travis L. Manion USMC’
99 while he was serving in Iraq. I had the privilege
of knowing Travis through his involvement in
Football and Wrestling. The loss of Travis caused
me to become more aware of the boys who have
recently left La Salle to serve our nation. In the last
five years, we have had graduates attend the U.S.
Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force
Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Merchant
Marine Academy, and The Citadel as well as being
involved in ROTC programs across the tri-state region.
I had the honor of working with four of our recent
graduates: 1st Lt. Bert Bender, USMC ’03, who
spent three years working out with me each morning
and then went on to the U.S. Naval Academy;
1st Lt. Patrick McCarthy’02, U.S. Army, who played
football and lacrosse at La Salle before attending the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point; 1st Lt. Trevor
Needham’02, USA, who wrestled and was also a
member of my morning workout crew before
entering the Army ROTC program at the University
of Scranton, and 1st Lt. John P. O’Hara’99, USN, who
was a star lacrosse player for the La Salle before
entering the U.S. Naval Academy with Travis Manion.
It is my pleasure to have known each of these young
men as La Salle Boys and now as dedicated officers
in our nation’s military. I consider it an honor to correspond
with them on a regular basis as they serve
our Nation. From Brother’s Boys to Plebes to Officers,
these are clearly a few good men.
The list of men who graduated from La Salle College
High School and who went to serve our country is
too lengthy for the pages of this magazine. The
La Salle Community is grateful to each of them for
their dedication. We recognize their sacrifice and
embrace their love of country. Since we cannot share
all of these stories, allow me to highlight one of my
many correspondences with 1 st Lt. Patrick McCarthy,
USA, in which he reflects how his years at La Salle
helped to prepare him to meet the daily struggles
that he faces in Northern Iraq.