We are grateful that you joined us in remembering our soldiers who have valiantly served and gave their lives for this country. You will find the stories of the men shared that day, the race times, and photos here.
From the War of 1812 until present, Georgetown students have answered this Nation’s call to arms. While most came home after doing so to live long and prosperous lives, some did not, and we think it’s valuable to call a few of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to mind and demonstrate how love for others and dedication to noble and high ideals can manifest themselves amidst the awful circumstances of war.
He was a 1908 Georgetown graduate and the first American to cross the Atlantic in defense of France during World War One, expressing to his family that he had little concern other than France’s liberation. After fighting with the French for more than one year and recovering for several months from a shrapnel wound, he volunteered for the Lafayette Flying Corps and died when the plane he was piloting crashed in 1916.
He was a Georgetown professor and Army chaplain who died heroically saving passengers before the plane that was transporting him home crashed off the coast of Italy in 1946. After helping seven passengers don parachutes, he gave his own to the flight’s eighth survivor. Like so many from the Georgetown community, Father O’Gara lived to serve, raising money for an orphanage in Calcutta and volunteering for a dangerous humanitarian mission to provide food and clothing to those in Burma who were in extreme need.
He was the class of 1967 grad for whom our university’s library is named. He died shielding wounded soldiers who were being evacuated amidst a battle in South Vietnam in 1970. Lieutenant Lauinger stood tall so others could live because, to paraphrase what was said at his eulogy, “Joe felt very grateful to live in a country where people are free and believed that all people on this earth should have that same chance.”
Congratulations to everyone who completed the 5K!
Actual distance was 3.25mi / 5.23km.
