Serving with Swords and Words

by Michael Kelly

MBA’s Veterans Day event honored all those who served in the United States of America’s Armed Forces with a marvelous breakfast ceremony. Mr. Gioia hosted the breakfast in a packed dining hall. Senior Wylie Ritter introduced the MBA choir who performed a powerful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner under the metronomic limbs of choir director Matt Smyth. Friend of MBA and father of two graduates, Matt & Steven, Mr. Steven Smith introduced the keynote speaker for the ceremony, Lieutenant General Keith Huber of the United States Army. Mr. Smith briefly listed Gen. Huber’s many accomplishments. According to Mr. Smith, if General Huber were a graduate of MBA, a more robust rendering of the MBA motto might apply to him because of his courageous actions in the field of combat.

Gen. Huber, whose grandfather served during WWI and whose father served in WWII, spoke passionately about his serving in the US military, how neither he nor any of the men with whom he served ever saw themselves as heroes: they felt that role should be reserved for the families left behind. He noted that 158 alumni of MBA had served in the armed forces. He also spoke about the connection between communication and leadership, how effective leaders still know how to look a person in the eye rather than their relying on social media or email to communicate effectively. General Huber now works at MTSU, overseeing programs that help veterans return to their communities. Unfortunately, not all veterans return and one such veteran was Tom Kettle who wrote this poem for his infant daughter in an attempt to explain the call to serve during war time. Kettle was killed in action on September 9, 1916.

To My Daughter Betty, The Gift of God
In wiser days, my darling rosebud, blown
To beauty proud as was your mother's prime,
In that desired, delayed, incredible time,
You'll ask why I abandoned you, my own,
And the dear heart that was your baby throne,
To dice with death. And oh! they'll give you rhyme
And reason: some will call the thing sublime,
And some decry it in a knowing tone.
So here, while the mad guns curse overhead,
And tired men sigh with mud for couch and floor,
Know that we fools, now with the foolish dead,
Died not for flag, nor King, nor Emperor,
But for a dream, born in a herdsman's shed,
And for the secret Scripture of the poor. 

                                                           Tom Kettle MP, 1880-1916


MBA is proud of our current teachers who have served in the US Military:

Chris Calico (Lieutenant): Panama, Cuba, and Puerto Rico doing counter-drug patrols; Desert Shield; Balkan War. Flight instructor at NAS Kingsville, TX )Math teacher

Dr. Jim Lech: US Air Force Intelligence Analyst 1991-1994. Economics teacher

Joe Sharbel (Lieutenant Colonel), United States Marine Corps: Served as Tank Officer, Data Communications Officer 1983 – 2005. History teacher

Stephen Shone (Capt): West Point Academy graduate 1989. Served in Operation Desert Storm. Captain of a nuclear missile battery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Math teacher.

Patrick Simpson (Capt): Served in the US Army from 2006-2012. Served in Baghdad, Iraq. History teacher; Dean of Lower School

Mike Raney (Lieutenant Colonel): Served in the U.S. Army commanding task force operations in various units in the United States and in Central and South America, Europe and the Middle East. Also served as an instructor at West Point Academy. Math teacher

Steve Walsnovich (Sergeant): Served in Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Chef/Operations Manager, Sage Food Services


In other news, a war of words broke out on campus this past Tuesday where the top gun student team of Aden Barton (’20) and Sam Meacham (’21) took on the sartorially tailored team of Josh Clarke and Kevin Hamrick, two of MBA’s finest debate coaches. In a packed Paschall Theater, Mr. Roddy Story, doyen of the history department and owner of a lovely tweedy blazer, introduced the debaters, the panel of five judges and the topic: “Should President Trump be impeached?” The exchanges were sometimes flinty but always informed and entertaining. Barton spoke with fire and delivered the facts with the dramatic flair of a Kobe restaurant chef. Meacham’s performance was equally convincing as he engaged in razor sharp exchanges with Hamrick who was almost on the ropes until Clarke, with the assurance of a sleepwalker, delivered the coup de grace by quoting a “noted American historian’[s]” incontrovertible evidence for the teacher team. After about 20 seconds consultation between librarian Robbie Quinn and his panel of judges (three teachers and two students), the teacher team was declared the winner in a 3-2 vote. No hanging chads were reported.