Moving on to the military
The mood was warm and welcoming, despite damp and chilly weather, at the Harvard’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) commissioning ceremony Wednesday, as seven soon-to-be Harvard graduates received their first military assignments in Tercentenary Theatre. As he waited for the proceedings to begin, Marine Corps 2nd Lt. James S. Brooks of Baltimore posed for pictures with his family next to Memorial Church and reflected on the occasion and his decision to join the military. The ceremony, he said, “means everything to me. My grandfathers are the reason I first thought about serving. … They are role models to me. I wanted to be like them. That’s why I decided to join.” Brooks said his military experience informed his time at Harvard. “You just have to live every second knowing that you are living for a bigger purpose, and you are living for someone else and for your country.” His grandfather James S. Smith ’49,...