News

Xavier Presents LTC John Reitzell

Part of College Republicans’ “Conservative Week”

04/02/08

On April 9, 2008 at 8:00 p.m., the Xavier University College Republicans will present LTC John Reitzell (ret) from the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne.  Reitzell served during the Ronald Reagan administration and will present his thoughts on why it is important for American troops to remain in Iraq until their job is finished. While in the Joint Special Operations Command, Reitzell was deployed on over 35 "real world" operations in support of the nation's counter-terrorism program, such as the invasion of Grenada, the hijack of TWA 847 to Beirut, the insurgencies in El Salvador and Nicaragua, and the seizing of the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro. During the Achille Lauro incident he was part of a 6 man team chronicled in Tom Clancy's book Shadow Warriors as "The Chase." During this tour, Col. Reitzell served as the Reagan administration's DOD lead for its classified crisis response team. This team, led by a State Department official, a Deputy Director of Intelligence from the CIA, and then LTC Reitzell, forward deployed to the Middle East in 1986.

 

The presentation will be in Alter Hall’s Kelly Auditorium. It is free and open to the public and media. A free-will donation will be collected for the veterans fund called welcomebackvets.org, which raises awareness and support to help veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who are struggling with employment, mental health, and education issues.

 

“The Xavier University College Republicans support our troops unconditionally,” says Steve Newsome, College Republicans Co-Chair. “We know that supporting the troops also means supporting their mission. The long and the short of the matter is we can’t cut and run from the war on terror without telling 4,000 families their children died in vain and that’s something no American should accept.”

 

The week will also feature student information boards about socialized medicine, second amendment rights, and fair tax legislation.