Mar
Boston College graduates Marine Capt. David Van Dam ’04 and Army Lt. Col. Daniel Arkins ’81 have been awarded Bronze Star medals for meritorious service and valor while serving with American military forces in Afghanistan.
Van Dam was a Marine Reconnaissance company commander who successfully led his men into battle against enemy forces in some of Afghanistan’s most dangerous terrain. Arkins earned the rare honor in recognition of his work as a brigade intelligence officer in Kabul.
The Bronze Star is one of the nation’s highest wartime honors, and both of the new recipients looked back at their days in Chestnut Hill as the impetus for launching their military careers.
Van Dam, a LaJolla, Calif., native and graduate of the political science honors program, says his Boston College training was a key factor in his decision to enter the military. “I was inspired by the environment at Boston College, particularly the emphasis that was placed on service to others,” he said from his current assignment at the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Warfare School in Quantico, Va. “Many students at BC really do live by that ideal. It’s so rare to find that these days.”
He also credited his senior thesis advisor, Associate Professor Timothy Crawford, for giving him “some great perspective on military service and how it relates to the foreign policy of the United States. His instruction and mentorship made me want to take an active role in what was going on in the world and be a part of history.”
Playing rugby as an undergraduate proved another means of preparation for life as a Marine, added Van Dam, whose most recent tour in Afghanistan was his third combat assignment in the Middle East. “You cannot survive on the pitch as an individual. Taking care of your teammates and caring more for them than you care for yourself is the only path to victory.”
Arkins’ road to the Bronze Star followed a far different path. After graduation from BC with a degree in history, he joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard to help pay his college costs. “The BC influence on my military career is that it was an incredibly expensive education – even back in 1981 – and I had to pay for it somehow,” he says with a laugh. “I thought I was just going to enlist for six years to get a student loan repayment program going.
“I really just fell into this culture that I love,” he says, “and ‘love’ is not too strong a word. I love the camaraderie, the sense of mission and the idea of service,” Arkins says. “And, I think those are pretty common themes in a lot of the things Boston College talks about, too.”
He served in the Guard for 26 years before transferring into the Army Reserve three years ago – a switch prompted by the opportunity to serve in the Army’s larger intelligence community.
Arkins was sent to Afghanistan last May – his second Middle East combat deployment. In 2003-04, he served a combat tour in Irag where he was also awarded a Bronze Star for his outstanding work.
Arkins is currently transitioning back to civilian life, returning last month to his home and family in Melrose, Mass. and his job as a regional sales director for MetLife insurance in Boston. He has since been selected for promotion to full colonel and will take over an Army Reserve command in October.
“Being an intelligence officer, I didn’t get too many opportunities to go out and be valorous,” he notes. “I was just recognized for doing a good job. Plenty of people deserve these awards, but not everyone can get one. I am honored that I did.
“I was incredibly fortunate to have some really, really good people working for me,” Arkins says. “I was even surrounded by quite a contingent of Eagles in Afghanistan – we had six guys in my brigade who were Boston College graduates.”