2021 Archives - Page 2 of 2

Listen to Your Doctor

December 20, 2021September 16, 2021

Six months ago, I was about to turn 80, or as my family likes to call this birthday a decade transition. My youngest sister, who hosted my mother’s 80th birthday celebration wanted to know what I was going to do about mine. My children wanted to know if there was anything I would like on my birthday. Normally, the family would have a party with all the brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren, and aunts and uncles with the number approaching 35 or 40 people. I am the oldest family member and the only person other than my wife who would be at a party who had one vaccination shot with the second one scheduled. COVID had changed a lot of family gatherings, and this would be no exception.

Jeremy Bergantini – PCVI 2021 Graduation Speech

June 5, 2022June 25, 2021

The fact is my personal story does not matter. Tonight, is not about me, it is about each and every person here. It is about our instructors and liaisons, our fellow classmates and fallen veterans that are not here tonight. But also, tonight is about YOU.

Ross Boyer – PCVI 2021 Graduation Speech

August 4, 2021June 25, 2021

I would like to tell you a war story, one from someone who’s never set foot in a warzone. It is not a story about a battlefield, nor is even from my time in the service. It is a story about my summer vacation, and it is about the Weight of war. It is a heavy story, yes, but I’d like to share it with you, and ask that you help me carry it.

Omni – PCVI Graduation Speech 2021

July 15, 2021June 1, 2021

My name is omni, which, in the original Latin, means ‘all.’

Allow me to entertain you by sharing ‘the truth’ about ‘the lie.’

Arthur Curry – PCVI 2021 Graduation Speech

July 15, 2021May 26, 2021

After breakfast I went back to the barracks and took that t-shirt off immediately. I have never worn that T-shirt since that day. I consider the Tee shirt to be as sacred as the Medal of Honor itself especially after I researched 2Lt. John P. Bobo

Dora Vasquez-Hellner – PCVI 2021 Graduation Speech

July 15, 2021May 26, 2021

One year ago, I accepted an invitation to the graduation ceremony of the Providence Clemente Veterans Initiative. As each graduate spoke, I was in awe of what PCVI meant to them. What caught my attention was the ease of connecting their military experiences with different aspects of the curriculum, the humanities. I was on the edge of my seat, grasping onto every single word as they expressed their gratitude for this course.

Ernest Drew – PCVI 2021 Graduation Speech

July 15, 2021May 25, 2021

Last month I was in Williamsburg, VA with my family. I wanted to see the Virginia War Museum and what was remaining of the civil war monuments. While in the museum I fell and ended up on the marble floor. My son-in-law and the museum staff eventually got me in a wheelchair and out to my car, but I soon realized that I couldn’t communicate with the lower part of my left leg. At the emergency room, it was determined that my injury was the result of a catastrophic failure of the quadricep tendon of my left leg. I went through surgery. The day after I was feeling out of sorts and complaining of chest pains and it was determined that I had a heart attack.