 Media Credit: Photo courtesy of Richard W. Corner U.S. Army Capt. Richard W. Corner and his BC roommate Capt. Dan Brace, both BC ’97, were reunited while stationed in Iraq.
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U.S. Army Captain Richard Corner knew he wanted to be a soldier. He began playing with G.I. Joes as a small child, said his father, Richard Sr., and the idea only strengthened as Corner grew. Soon after receiving his acceptance letter to Boston College as a senior at BC High School, Corner also received a letter telling him about the ROTC program at BC. He signed up freshman year.
"I always wanted to join the army," said Corner. After participating in the ROTC program all four years at BC, Corner was honored as one of the top cadets of the class of 1997. "[ROTC] was great. It was a lot of time, but it defiantly prepared me for the army."
That start in the BC ROTC program propelled Corner to the role of a captain during the recent war in Iraq.
Corner said his grandfather had a lot to do with his decision to join the army. His grandfather served in the 75th infantry division during World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, earning a silver and a bronze star. He died when Corner was five years old. "Joining the army was a way for me to understand his life a little better," he said. "Serving made me appreciate what he did for the country a little more."
Although Corner's decision to sign up for ROTC his freshman year of college was obvious to him, some were taken aback by the choice. BC Spokesman Jack Dunn met Corner when he was a freshman at BC High, when Dunn worked as an administrator there. "I just liked him from the start. He was one of those kids you just take a shining to, he's the all-American boy from the all-American family," said Dunn. "I remember thinking that Rich Corner would become a priest. When he told me he was going to sign up for ROTC, I was a little surprised, but it also seemed to fit."
After joining the army after graduation, Corner has been called to two foreign tours, one in Kosovo and another in Iraq.
He served in the 1st Infantry Division in Kosovo as part of a peace-keeping mission from November 1999 to June 2000. He went to Iraq in February 2003 and served with the 75th Exploitation Task Force until June.
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