Photo Credit: Chris Radcliffe, Eastern Kentucky University
Second Lt. Josh Pitcher of the 82nd Airborne Division made it to the Eastern Kentucky University with the help of Gen. David M. Rodriguez to witness his fiancée, Michelle Smith, graduate. Himself a 2011 EKU graduate, Pitcher was wounded in Afghanistan. Rodriguez arranged for Pitcher to fly with him to EKU. Besides attending his fiancee's graduation, Pitcher also attended the EKU ROTC commissioning. Shown here are (left to right) Lt. Col. Ralph Hudnall Jr., professor of military science at EKU; Rodriguez, commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, and a former commander of the 82nd Airborne Division; Pitcher; his mother Vickie Pitcher; his father retired Maj. Randy Pitcher; and Doug Whitlock, the president of Eastern Kentucky University.