Central Catholic Recognizes Alumni Veterans at Veterans Day Assembly
Central Catholic High School commemorated Veterans Day this morning with a special assembly in Krompak Hall. Students and staff honored veterans who are associated with the school, and students had an opportunity to ask questions of a panel after the presentation.
The following people were on the panel:
Air Force Reservist Maj. Alea Nadeem (Class of 2003) is a Policy Advisor at the National Security Council for the Executive Office of the President, and chair of the Governance Committee of No One Left Behind, a charitable organization focused on supporting former interpreters and U.S. government employees eligible for the Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programs. The organization helps evacuate deserving SIV applicants to safety, and provides resettlement assistance to help them start new lives as Americans.
Maj. Nadeem lived in Iraq from age 8 to age 12, while Saddam Hussein was still in power. Her mom is American and her father is of Iraqi descent. She was a junior at Central Catholic when the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001. She wanted to make sure our military knew the vast majority of Arabs and Muslims are good people, and she was determined to help people understand Middle Eastern culture. The events of 9/11 ignited her desire to serve.
Maj. Nadeem began basic training right after high school, becoming an Airman. She originally served in security forces. She later earned her commission and began serving as an intelligence officer. After serving on active duty for seven years, she switched to the Air Force Reserve in 2015.
Cpl. Whitney McHaffie is a senior Theology teacher at Central Catholic. She served in Japan for three years as an I-level Airframer (aircraft mechanic), was a Secondary MOS (military occupation specialty) Martial Arts Instructor, and served on the aircraft carrier WASP in operation Talisman Saber (Allied exercise between US, Japan, Australia).
Mrs. Patrice Brock is a science teacher and girls’ lacrosse coach at Central Catholic. Her daughter Ally served for five years in the US Army as a cryptologic linguist, after being trained in Farsi, which is spoken in Iran. Her son-in-law Matt served five years in the US Army as airborne infantry, then three years in the National Guard reserves. Her son Nick enlisted in the US Army in 2013 and started out as a Ranger and is currently a captain attached to a special forces group at Fort Campbell. He deployed to Iraq in September for a six-month assignment. This is his fourth deployment.
Mr. Michael Meacham works in maintenance and custodial services at Central Catholic. His son Adam is in the Army National Guard, and his son Lucas is a Navy SEAL.
Special honored guests at this morning’s Veterans Day assembly also included:
William Bartkavage (Class of 1951, Army)
Bill Rhodus (Class of 1975, Army)
Andrew Sniegowski (Class of 1967, Navy)
Stephen Trompeter (Class of 1978, Air Force)
