In conjunction with the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association’s Reunion 2009, alumni will be honored for current and past military service during a flag retreat ceremony at 3 p.m.
June 5 (Friday) at the Pasquerilla Center (ROTC building). In case of rain, the ceremony will move inside the Loftus Sports Center.
Brig. Gen. Philip Volpe, a 1977 Notre Dame graduate and deputy commander of the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region Medical at Bethesda Naval Base, will serve as guest speaker.
A recipient of the Alumni Association’s Corby Award for distinguished military service, Volpe was awarded the Army Commendation Medal in honor of his heroic actions with the 2nd Ranger Battalion during their airborne assault on Rio Hato Airfield in Panama through Operation Just Cause. As the command surgeon during Task Force Ranger operations in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 (also known as “Black Hawk Down”), Volpe applied his expertise in joint medical operations and combat casualty care to save several critically wounded soldiers.
Volpe has held high ranking leadership positions throughout his career, including chief of the Department of Family Medicine at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, commander of the 62nd Medical Brigade at Fort Lewis, and assistant surgeon general for force projection at the Pentagon.
Volpe’s many personal decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, and Korean Order of National Security Merit Medal.
A reception will follow the ceremony and will include the dedication of a Class of 1959 memorial plaque in honor of classmates who died in service to the United States during the Vietnam War.