Drexel Joins Local Community in Honoring Fallen Heroes at Memorial Day Primer

Drexel University is an institution committed to providing unique services to the men and women who have chosen to provide their service to us all through the U. S. military. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the Drexel community has been coming together for the past eight years for its Memorial Day Primer. Before the day away from the classroom or the office, it’s a way for Dragons to commemorate all servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

But this year, the theme of “Together We Remember” was approached literally as members of the local University City and Powelton Village communities were invited to contribute to Drexel’s annual event. Most notably, a collaboration with the Powelton Village Civic Association focused on paying tribute to Philadelphia native Cpl. James Joseph Cochran, a serviceman in the National Guard who lost his life in World War I at the age of 23.

“Our University is about town and gown coming together, and not having boundaries and looking for ways to connect,” said Rebecca Weidensaul, PhD, assistant vice president of Student Life in the Office of Veteran Student Services, about the community tie-in for this year’s event. “I think that this was the moment for my office to show that.”

“Our University is about town and gown coming together, and not having boundaries and looking for ways to connect,” said Rebecca Weidensaul, PhD, assistant vice president of Student Life in the Office of Veteran Student Services, about the community tie-in for this year’s event. “I think that this was the moment for my office to show that.”

Professor of Military Science Lt. Col. Lawrence Camacho provided an opening welcome and, after the presentation of colors, invocation and singing of the national anthem, reminded attendees of exactly why they were all gathered.

“Fundamentally, we gather today because we want to honor and pay huge tribute to those who committed the ultimate sacrifice while fighting America’s wars in the name and in the defense of our constitution,” he said.

“Fundamentally, we gather today because we want to honor and pay huge tribute to those who committed the ultimate sacrifice while fighting America’s wars in the name and in the defense of our constitution,” he said.

“Today it is an immediate means of showing respect for the dead among the still-living members of the troop … as a means to mourn, as sometimes attending the funeral is not always possible for soldiers still in the fight,” he said.

Weidensaul then addressed the attendees, first asking all veterans in the room to stand and be recognized, as well as thanking everyone involved with planning and carrying out the event.

“I’m so proud to be a part of a University that offers a nationally acclaimed military-friendly Yellow Ribbon Program,” she said. “I also appreciate deeply being a part of a community that honors our nation’s traditions so that we can come together on a day like this in May to raise awareness.”

Representatives from Drexel’s University City neighbors at the University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs also collaborated on this year’s Primer, with Associate Director Ralph DeLucia called upon to recite the John McCrae war poem “In Flanders Fields” during the event. DeLucia said afterwards that any time to come together as Americans and as an academic community for an event like this — especially during these challenging times — should be taken.

“I think it benefits our whole community — not just the veterans and their families and friends, but everybody,” he said. “We all sacrifice to make our country free. So it’s part of that — we’re all part of it.”

“I think it benefits our whole community — not just the veterans and their families and friends, but everybody,” he said. “We all sacrifice to make our country free. So it’s part of that — we’re all part of it.”

“When I first moved to Powelton, I wondered, ‘So who is Cochran?’ Nobody knew,” Maksymowicz recalled following the event. “We sort of adopted Cochran. We used to call him our ‘unknown soldier.’ Now we know who he was, but for a long time we didn’t know.”

Maksymowicz added that stories like these help individuals identify with history, and with the purpose of holidays like Memorial Day.

“There’s something, I think, about turning history into something that’s very particular and tangible that makes it more real,” she said.