Veterans’ Panel Explores Service and Sacrifice in the Military

David Petrovich ’18 was the only Zoom participant in Thursday’s veterans’ panel. But his experience in the military resonated with students. Petrovich attended the Naval Academy after Saint Viator. He was commissioned in May and now, as a naval officer, he is waiting to start flight school.

“I have met people from all over the world,” said Petrovich, who grew up in Arlington Heights. “We all come together to serve this country that has given us so much.”

Members of the Querbes Scholars program, and their moderator, Mr. Chris Paoelli, hosted the panel as part of an extension of the Portrait of a Soldier exhibit. 

The military panel also featured former members of the military – Larry Forsberg ’66 and David Harris ’66 -- as well as Kaki Newgard, a Gold Star mother, and Greg Padovani, chairman of the Veterans’ Memorial Committee in Arlington Heights. 

“We see you as our nation’s future,” Padovani told the students, “and we want to share so many things with you so that you understand the importance of service and sacrifice.”

Forsberg described what it was like in the late 1960s, fearing being drafted to serve in Vietnam. Rather than be drafted, he took a proactive approach and enlisted in 1968 in the Navy. He would be deployed to Vietnam, working in communications, but he never saw combat. 

Harris enlisted in the Army National Guard and was commissioned as an infantry officer upon completion of Officer Candidate School and served in the Army reserves. He ultimately was promoted to serve as the Adjunct General of the Illinois Army National Guard.

He described military life as being structured but also opening up new opportunities not available in the civilian world. In particular, he described the substantial change in modern warfare, with the increased use of long-range missiles and technology in general.

“There are more drone operators than active pilots right now,” Harris said. “That tells you that technology is a really big deal in the military.”

The event’s biggest applause came after hearing Newgard describe her son, Will, and his lifelong desire to serve in the military. A Hersey High School graduate, Newgard enlisted in the Army and trained at Ft. Benning, GA before being sent to Germany. He was deployed in July 2006 to Iraq and within six months of arriving he was killed by an IED while driving a Humvee.

“We were in shock. We knew it was a risk but when it happens you’re totally numb,” Kaki Newgard told the crowd. “We’re so proud of what he did. It was what he wanted to do. We think he was a hero.”

She went on to describe the emotional impact of traveling to Germany one year later and meeting some of the soldiers her son had served with and their warmth for her and the family.

“This was a brotherhood,” she said. “Being in the military, if you’re thinking of doing this, consider that it raises men and it raises women and leads to relationships for life.”