Letter to Alumni from VT Corps of Cadets Alumni Director, Col. Rock Roszak (USAF, Retired)

Where do I begin?

I guess I begin by thanking all of our alumni who have sent me such heart-warming messages of shock, sorrow and support. No university should endure what ours has, but the pride I feel for how our university leadership and our entire community have responded in the face of such unprecedented tragedy is beyond words.

My pride in the Corps is also so intense I can't describe it. From the very moment of crisis when cadets went to the academic quad and helped shepherd students to shelter, I have been touched by the compassion of our cadets. Our buildings were locked down in short order and the chain of command had posted a cadet at each entry point to keep our area secure and to allow our cadets to get into the buildings if they didn't have their ID. In less than an hour I saw Cadet Joshua Johnson, commander of Alpha Company, in the Brodie Lounge. He had already achieved full accountability for his company and had allowed several civilian students into our lounge for their safety--and he had a list of who they were so we could maintain total accountability for our area.

Before noon on that Monday, the regiment knew we had accounted for all of our students save one.

The regiment has been a visible and proud part of our community as we began the recovery process. I'm attaching some photos to share with you some of the things I have seen.

1.Flag: As soon as it was evident what had happened, LtC Bill Stringer of our staff had lowered our flag to half-mast.

2.Honor Detail: Dr. Tom Tillar ordered a memorial wreath on behalf of the VT alumni association and cadets put it in place in the War Memorial Chapel at 5pm on Monday. An honor detail was posted for the next 30 hours.

3.Formation: On Tuesday morning the regiment gathered for the first formation after the shootings to begin the process of moving forward

Photo by Dave Knachel.

4.Prayer: Following the flag raising the regimental commander pulled the regiment in to tell them we had lost one of our own. Afterwards, many cadets gathered around the regimental chaplain for a spontaneous prayer.

Photo by Dave Knachel.

5.Convocation: The convocation held at Cassell Coliseum began to show everyone how strong the Hokie Nation was. President and Mrs. Bush rendered honors to the Colors presented by our cadet Color Guard.

Photo by John McCormick.

6.Placing: After the convocation the high winds had subsided enough to allow Cadet Jordan Martinelli and a detail to move the memorial wreath to the Cenotaph at the War Memorial.

7.Changing: The detail was relieved and the wreath remained under escort until 11pm that evening.

8.March: On Tuesday evening Cadet Andrew Archut led the regiment in solemn procession to the Drillfield for the candlelight vigil. They marched to the beat of a single snare drum and when they arrived they did not stand apart in formation, but dismissed and joined the crowd as one community.

Photo by Bert Kinzey.

9.Rat Path: By Wednesday morning cadets had given the Rat Path its latest coat of paint.

10.Caldwell: Less than a week ago I took a photo of 80 smiling cadets around the Addison Caldwell statue in anticipation of our 13 mile Caldwell March the next day. It seems like that was a year ago. Today, Addison is alone but he is suitably adorned.

11.La Porte: No one life is more precious than another, but to us Cadet Matthew La Porte is most special. We will remember him always.

Ut Prosim

Colonel Rock Roszak, USAF (Retired)
Alumni Director
Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets
"S" Squadron, Class of 1971

129 Brodie Hall
VTCCA Website: http://www.vtcca.vt.edu
(W) 540-231-9369 vtcc71@vt.edu
(C) 540-320-9369 rock.roszak@comcast.net