For the 129th time, a new class of West Virginia University graduates faces the future with hope, optimism, and ambition.
"I was shot down, hunted, shot at—but that was the mostpositive experience of my life."
—Captain Scott O'Grady, USAF
After surviving years of academic rigor, WVU's Class of 1998 was ready to hear the ultimate survival story. And the speaker at WVU's 129th Commencement, U.S. Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady, delivered.
Speaking to a crowd of more than 13,000 in the WVU Coliseum on May 17, O'Grady recalled his June 1995 ordeal of surviving six days behind enemy lines in Bosnia when the F-16 fighter jet he was flying on a United Nations peace patrol was shot down by an antiaircraft missile.
His story, however, went far beyond an account of using survival techniques taught to him in the military. Drawing on lessons learned from his battle to stay alive and get back home safely, O'Grady implored WVU students to use their education to obtain life's most meaningful gifts-love and relationships-rather than material things.
He spoke to nearly 2,000 graduates, some sporting mortar boards with messages for family and yellow balloons attached with strings. He said that in the days after his fighter jet was shot down, all that mattered to him were the people and country he loved and his faith in God.
"I was shot down, hunted, shot at-but that was the most positive experience of my life," he said. "There were three things that kept me going: faith, my family, and my country."
Seek values that endure, rather
than wealth and materialism, O'Grady said. "In the end, it's
not how big a house you have or how much money you have in the
bank that will count. It'll be who you loved and the people who've
loved you that will matter."
Seize the moments of every day, O'Grady advised, and be happy regardless of circumstances.
"You think life is a right," he said, "until it's been threatened." Now, he realizes that each new day is a gift.
Stationed in Utah, O'Grady still flies F-16s. He also wrote a book on his experiences, Return with Honor, and a children's book called Basher Five-Two.
Earlier in the ceremony, the wife of West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood, Hovah Underwood, also had a special message for this year's graduates.
"No matter what road you take in life," she told the enthusiastic crowd, "your WVU education will provide you a solid base upon which to build. Your WVU education can take you anywhere you want to go."
Receiving honorary degrees this year were: John Goodlad, education reformer; Vivien Perrine Woofter, artist and decorator; and Carolyn Eberly Blaney, philanthropist.
—Karen Zeller
For service to WVU—The 1998 Order of Vandalia inductees, from left: Harold Gibbard, retired WVU sociology professor; Thomas E. Potter, Charleston attorney; Earl E. Anderson, retired marine general; Cecil B. Highland, Jr., Clarksburg newspaper publisher; Gladys W. Knapp, retired WVU home economics professor; with WVU President David C. Hardesty, Jr.
For service to the state and nation—WVU Distinguished Service Award honorees this year are Captain Scott O'Grady (see related story) and G. Ogden Nutting of Wheeling. Previously named a "Most Loyal Mountaineer," Nutting is president and publisher of Ogden Newspapers, which owns 28 papers in West Virginia and other states, and is a partner and director of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team.
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