BU Army ROTC Alumni Hall of Excellence

Leadership Excellence – Demonstrated:  Hall of Excellence

Welcome to our Newly Inaugurated Hall of Excellence (under construction)

Many of our Alumni have earned our recognition.  This list recognizes those deemed to be among the top 10% of the thousands who have participated in Army ROTC through Boston University or other schools on the Charles River Battalion Team.  The list is organized by Class, with a brief description regarding their service.

1926 – MAJOR GENERAL RALPH A. PALLADINO / US Army Reserve – Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; Silver Star; Legion of Merit; Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four Campaign Stars (Ardennes-Alsace, Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe); Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp; Armed Forces Reserve Medal with three Ten Year Devices; Croix de Guerre with Palm (France); Medal of Liberated France; War Cross (Czechoslovakia); Order of the War for the Fatherland (Second Class) (Soviet Union); Order Nationale de la Cousonne de Cherre (Luxembourg); Combat Infantryman Badge. Immigrated to the US from Italy and started military service at 14 with the Mansfield High School Cadet Company. Entered Boston University and became very active in sports, publications, Army ROTC and Scabbard & Blade. He commissioned as a reserve second lieutenant of Infantry in 1926, just a few months after attaching his US citizenship. Over the next 33 years he served in both active and reserve roles, rising from platoon leader to chief of Army Reserve and ROTC affairs and as a consultant to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs from 1968 to 1969. As commander of the 2d Battalion, 104th Infantry Regiment in 1942, his unit responded to rumors that the Germans had a secret installation on a nearby island, only to find the island deserted after making their amphibious landing. On 10 November 1944, soon after the unit began offensive operations in the European Theater, Lieutenant Colonel Palladino assumed command of the 104th Infantry Regiment when Colonel Dwight T. Colley received serious wounds near Morville-sur-Seille, France. Palladino led his regiment through combat in the Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns. Earning a Silver Star at the Battle of the Bulge, Lieutenant Colonel Palladino, Commanding Officer of the Regiment, drove up to the front line positions of his infantry units and, while under the heavy enemy fire, “successfully completed his reconnaissance, he called up a platoon of destroyers and personally placed them into firing positions some two hundred yards from the enemy lines.” This enabled a well-planned infantry attack, launched early the following morning that overran and wiped out the enemy pocket. He left active duty in March 1946, returning to the 94th Infantry Division as its commander, rising to brigadier general on 26 April 1948 and to major general on 8 December 1954. He served as commanding general of the 94th until 1957. His final military duties included chief of Army Reserve and ROTC affairs retiring in May 1959. He served on the Reserve Force Policy Board and as a consultant to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs for another 10 years after his military retirement. He remained active in the community for many years, receiving much recognition; the Outstanding American of Italian Birth or Ancestry Gold Medal for 1958 from the Italian-American Charitable Society of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston University Distinguished Alumni Award in 1958, and the Reserve Officers Association him with the Distinguished Service Citation. Palladino showed great care and concern for his soldiers and communicated with many of them throughout his lifetime. Notably, his son, Donald Palladino graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1958 and retired as a U.S. Army Brigadier General, receiving the Army Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit during his service.

1934 – COLONEL RUSSELL SPINNEY – Silver Star European Theater of Operations.  “Capt. Russel G. Spinney of the Army led what two major generals called the ‘finest action they had seen in war’ retaking Hill 350 during the Battle of Mateur, North Africa.  He was a veteran of World War II from Quincy MA and later returned to Boston University, where he served as the Professor of Military Science from 1953 to 1958. The Spinney Study Center, a conference room in The Pershing House, is named in his honor.

1936 – COLONEL GEORGE JUSKALIAN – Silver Star w/Oakleaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star w/3 Oakleaf Clusters, Air Medal, Prisoner of War Medal.  During WWII he saw combat duties in North Africa where he was a prisoner of war for more than 27 months.  Battalion Commander in Korea 1952-1953.  Adviser to the Imperial Iranian Army in Tehran, 1957-1958.  Military adviser to the Vietnamese Army under combat conditions in 1963-1964.   He retired in 1967.  He devotedly served the Armenian community as well;  His Holiness Vazken I, Catholicos of All Armenians, awarded him the medal of St. Nerses Shnorhali in 1988.   The United States Postal Service Office located at 5003 Westfields Boulevard in Centreville is named the “Colonel George Juskalian Post Office Building” in his honor, and President Barack Obama signed this resolution as Public Law 111-367 on January 4, 2011.

1937 – CAPTAIN ROBERT H. LANDESS – Silver Star, Purple Heart.  Operation Torch in Northern Africa, WW II.  (KIA November 9, 1942.)  For the heroism that marked his death at Djebel Murdjadjo, the US Army placed his medal into the hands of little Ann Hamilton Landess, his six-week old daughter that he never had the occasion to meet.  This occasion was featured on page 32 of LIFE Magazine, April 12, 1943.

1940 – LIEUTENANT GENERAL JOHN WILLIAM O’NEILL / US Air Force – Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit; Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster; Air Medal with oak leaf cluster; Air Force Commendation Medal; Army Commendation Medal; and Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, Second Class.  B-29 crew, flying 285 combat hours based on Guam, becoming a squadron commander.  In 1946 he participated in the first peacetime atomic weapons tests at Bikini as an air operations officer and pilot of the command airplane.   In July 1964 he was transferred to L.G. Hanscom Field, Bedford, Mass., as Commander of the Electronic Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command (AFSC).   In July 1967 he assumed duties as Commander of the Space and Missile Systems Organization, AFSC, Los Angeles, CA.  General O’Neill assumed duties as vice commander, Air Force Systems Command, Andrews Air Force Base, MD, in September 1969.

1942 – CAPTAIN HENRY W. LEVASSEUR – Soldier’s Medal.  While assigned to Company B, 149th Infantry Regiment, 38th Division, awarded the Soldier’s Medal.  “For heroism near Burr Ferry , Texas, On October 17, 1942, during the Louisiana Maneuvers.  With disregard for his own personal safety, Lieutenant Levasseur, upon hearing cries for help from enlisted men who were in grave danger of drowning in the Sabine River, dived into the river and rescued an enlisted man of the 33rd Engineers (name unknown).  Quickly assuring himself that this man was not seriously injured Lieutenant Levasseur dived into the river to attempt the rescue of another man in distress.  The swift current carried Lieutenant Levasseur downstream where he became entangled in underwater snags and in so doing sustained injuries that caused him to be hospitalized. – H. L C. JONES, Major General, U. S. A.” Subsequently attended amphibious and ranger training.

1944 – FIRST LIEUTENANT HEAL HUBBARD – Purple Heart, European Theater of Operations, Battle for the City of Metz, France.  (KIA October 18, 1944.)  Presumed to be with Company L, 11th Infantry Regiment.  Co-inspiration for the Hubbard-Lane Award, first presented to Cadet Joseph Fernandez of Charles River Battalion in the spring of 1947.

1944 – FIRST LIEUTENANT RICHARD LANE – Army Air Force, Air Medal w/ Oakleaf Cluster.  Pacific Theater of Operations, Japan.  (POW 07 August 1945, KIA 15 August 1945, Victory in Japan “VJ” Day.)  Navigator for B-25J-30 / 32 NC Mitchell (Serial # 44-31300) on the crew of 1st Lt. Robert G. Neal, of the 345th Bombardment Group, 498th Bombardment Squadron.  Took sufficient damage over Matsubase/Uki to be unresponsive on radio, subsequently making a forced landing in Kumamoto Prefecture with all 5 crew-members taken prisoner; subsequently executed.  Co-inspiration for the Hubbard-Lane Award, first presented to Cadet Joseph Fernandes of Charles River Battalion in the spring of 1947.

1950 – MAJOR FRANK HADDEN JR. – He began his military service as an enlisted soldier during World War II. Following the War, he commissioned into the United States Army in 1950 through Boston University ROTC. Major Hadden served in the Korean War later in the United States Army Reserve. He established a grant that allows senior cadets in the Boston University Army ROTC program to visit the Gettysburg National Battlefield every year as part of their professional development. The Hadden Lounge, a cadet lounge in The Pershing House, is named in his honor.

1956 – FIRST LIEUTENANT ARMAND ARABIAN – ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate, Infantry Company Commander, Airborne, Jumpmaster and Pathfinder school graduate – Hon. Armand Arabian, served as a member of the Supreme Court of California from 1990 to 1996.   On the Supreme Court of California, Hon. Arabian authored 104 majority opinions, 17 concurring opinions, 6 concurring and dissenting opinions and 16 dissents.  In 1980, Hon. Arabian created the sexual assault victim counselor privilege now embodied in the California Evidence Code and adopted by 18 other states.  Hon. Arabian currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Pepperdine University School of Law.  Arabian was the first alumnus of Boston University School of law to be appointed to the California Supreme Court.  Known to some as “Saint Armand,” Justice Arabian is a nationally recognized leader in the reform of rape laws.  While a student at BU, he was named President of the Student Bar Association, Class President, and First National Chairman of the American Law Student Association Medico-Legal Committee.  In 1981, Justice Arabian received Boston University School of Law’s highest alumni recognition, the Silver Shingle Award for Distinguished Service to the Legal Profession, and in 1990, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University.  In 2011, Arabian was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association’s Community Legal Foundation.

1962 – LIEUTENANT COLONEL FREDERIC CARISTO – Vietnam.  Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star Medal w/Valor & 3/Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart.  ROTC Distinguished Military Graduate, Infantry Lieutenant, Ranger, Military Assistance Command Vietnam/Adviser to 37th Vietnamese Ranger Battalion, subsequently Adviser to 1st Vietnamese Ranger Task Force, Studies and Operations Group / OPS-34 as an Agent Handler, Detachment A Commander US Army Vietnam (Purple Heart), Phoenix Program / Senior Adviser Soc Trang Province, Military Equipment Delivery Team, for 6 tours (8 years) in Vietnam including a tour with 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne).  He was integral in the creation of the STRATA, the all-Vietnamese Short Term Roadwatch and Target Acquisition teams.  Distinguished Service Cross Citation:  The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Frederic J. G. Caristo, First Lieutenant (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Major Caristo distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism on 24 December 1966, while a member of the Studies and Observations Group, Headquarters, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Major Caristo’s mission was to accompany an extremely dangerous and sensitive United States prisoner recovery mission in the Ba Tu area of Cambodia, distinguish the Cambodians from the North Vietnamese and act as an interpreter/translator during any ground negotiations. He was also charged with the security and maximum exploitation of the North Vietnamese Hoi Chanh (military defector) who would accompany the operation. The Hoi Chanh had provided the initial intelligence which prompted the operation, and had revealed two United States prisoners were being held in a isolated hamlet near Ba Tu. The objective area was secured by a reinforced North Vietnamese battalion, surrounded by several minefields, and contained numerous armed/explosive manufacturing shops and caches. The prisoners were being held in a hut bordered on three sides by minefields. Initial planning called for a “nap of the earth” heliborne assault inside the minefield next to the prisoner hut. At 1200 hours, 24 December 1966, the helicopters made their final approach. With Major Caristo aboard, the lead helicopter began inserting on the wrong side of the minefield. Major Caristo immediately exited the lead helicopter, and simultaneously the supporting gunships began their suppression fires into the minefield and surrounding area. The lead helicopter pilot, realizing his navigational error, left the landing zone and attempted to insert the assault troops on the opposite side of the minefield. After their initial surprise, the North Vietnamese defenders rallied and began to place intensive protective fires throughout the area. Major Caristo, realizing the danger to the prisoners, the possibility of their execution, and the fact that he was the only assault troop on the ground, began to move toward the prisoners’ hut. With complete disregard for his own safety and realizing the extreme danger, Major Caristo ran fifty meters through the minefield and fusillade of intense friendly and enemy fire. He broke through the back wall of the designated hut, captured three occupants, and discovered the prisoners had been moved the previous night. The North Vietnamese unit was offering heavy resistance, and both sides, were suffering heavy casualties. The assaulting United States unit had become trapped with a second minefield between them and the North Vietnamese defenders. Major Caristo saw the gravity of the United States troops’ precarious situation, took one of his prisoners, and directed the captive to lead him and the assault elements through the minefield. Again disregarding his own safety by exposing himself to intense small arms and recoilless weapons fire, Major Caristo began leading the way through the minefield. When the prisoner was killed by small arms fire, Major Caristo demonstrated true leadership and great bravery and continued to lead the way through the minefield. Under an increasing volume of fire, and after knocked to the ground from the blast of a bangalore torpedo, he successfully led the assault elements through the minefield. This valorous action undoubtedly saved many American lives and allowed the assault to continue. Major Caristo returned to the hamlet to locate the prisoners and encountered a North Vietnamese soldier firing a 57 mm recoilless rifle into the rear of the assault elements. Major Caristo fired and wounded the gunner. To obtain further information about the minefields in the area, he captured the wounded gunner. Instead, the prisoner led him to an underground arms/explosive shop and attempted to get Major Caristo to enter. Major Caristo wisely had the prisoner enter first. The entrance was booby trapped and the prisoner was killed. The booby trap also wounded a woman and baby who were occupying the complex. Major Caristo, recognizing the possibility of a second booby trap, crawled into the bunker and pulled the woman and child to safety and medical aid. As the assault unit continued their sweep activities, they discovered a number of bunker complexes. Those United States troops attempting to search the bunkers encountered booby traps and small arms fire which caused a number of casualties. Reluctant to suffer further casualties, the United States troops began throwing hand grenades into the bunker prior to entering. Major Caristo, realizing their were many women and children in the bunkers, voluntarily entered several of them and saved many civilian lives by assuring the bunker occupants of their safety. Major Caristo’s command of the Vietnamese and Cambodian languages and their dialects also allowed him to discover forty-six North Vietnamese who were attempting to “blend-in” with the Cambodian civilians. Major Caristo additionally provided translations of numerous documents which led to the uncovering of two large arms caches. Through his heroic and unselfish efforts, Major Caristo saved numerous United States military and noncombatant lives. Although the prisoners were not recovered, Major Caristo’s valorous actions were the single outstanding factor of the operation and reflect great credit upon him and the United States Army.  Department of the Army, General Orders No. 5 (March 24, 1977)

1995 – COLONEL MATTHEW WEINSHEL – Afghanistan, Iraq – Global War on Terror.  COL Weinshel completed the Captain’s Career Course at Fort Rucker, AL and the Combined Arms and Services Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, KS in 2000.  From 2000 – 2001, he served as an S3 Planner and Troop Commander with the 1-17 Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bragg, NC. He moved to Fort Campbell and completed the Aviation Special Operations Training Course.  He served as a Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Operations Officer, while assigned to B/1-160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) (Airborne).  While at the 160th SOAR (A), COL Weinshel served as the Regiment’s Liaison Officer to the 75th Ranger Regiment.  From 2004 to 2006, he deployed with the 160th SOAR (A) to multiple combat and contingency locations in support of the Global War on Terror.  In 2007, he attended the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he earned a MBA from Webster University.  In 2007, he joined the Directorate for Special Operations Aviation, United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) at Fort Bragg, NC as the Current Operations Officer.  In 2008, he returned to 1-17 Cavalry Regiment, where he performed as the Executive Officer (XO).  In 2009, he deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan as the XO for Task Force Saber, as part of the United States’ initial major surge to Afghanistan.  He served as the XO until October, 2009, when he assumed duties as the TF Saber Operations Officer.  He redeployed in 2010, when he assumed duties as the 82d Combat Aviation Brigade Operations Officer. From 2011 to 2013, COL Weinshel served in the Aviation Tactics Evaluation Group, Joint Special Operations Command as a joint air planner. During this time, he deployed in support of several United States Special Operations Command Task Forces during combat operations around the world. COL Weinshel commanded the 1-6 Cavalry Regiment from April 2013 to February 2015, when he deployed the majority of the Squadron to Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom XIII. From 2015 to 2016, he commanded the Special Mission Wing (SMW) Special Operations Advisory Group (SOAG), conducting a train, advise and assist mission. In 2016-17, COL Weinshel attended the US Army War College’s national security fellowship at Duke University, focused on national security and counterterrorism. COL Weinshel assumed command of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade in August 2018 in Afghanistan.

His awards and decorations include:  the Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 oak leaf clusters, Bronze Star Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Medal with numeral four, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal with silver leaf cluster, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three bronze service stars, Iraq Campaign Medal with bronze service star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon with numeral two, NATO Medal with three bronze service stars, the Combat Action Badge, Master Aviator’s Badge, Senior Parachutist’s Badge, and Air Assault badge.  While assigned to 1-17 Cavalry Squadron, he and his unit earned the Valorous Unit Award.  COL Weinshel is married to the former Anne Grantland of Dothan, Alabama.  They have been married for 20 years.  They have two sons, Samuel and Benjamin.

(A few of our Alumni profiles are on the US Army ROTC webpage as well:  https://www.goarmy.com/rotc/schools/boston-university/alumni.html )