Bringing Boston University’s World War II Heroes Back into Memory
When World War II unfolded, thousands from Boston University including students, alumni, and faculty enlisted to protect the nation’s honor. Many of those patriots died fighting for the country, leaving behind an enduring legacy of courage and duty. The ultimate sacrifice of these 223 fallen officers was acknowledged by the university’s president Daniel L. Marsh in 1945 during the Thanksgiving address, where he promised to commemorate their lives with a memorial. Unfortunately, this vision fell into obscurity, never coming to fruition. Eighty years later, a collaborative effort by Pardee Professor John D. Woodward, Jr. and graduate student Michael Tozeski (Pardee’25) has revived this dream of honoring Terriers lost to WWII.
Prof. Woodward, a US Army veteran, former CIA officer, and the director of BU’s Division of Military Education was perturbed by the absence of a memorial on campus. To put together a list of students and alumni, the professor roped in Tozeski, a graduate student of international affairs at Pardee and an administrative coordinator at the BU Dean of Students Office.
“You have to remember those people. It borders on negligence if we don’t. I’m 65, and I remember every holiday we’d gather as a family. My dad and my uncles were all combat veterans of World War II. I saw how important the wars and their time serving were to them. They were young men when they served, and it had a huge impact on them. They always honored the comrades they lost in the war.” — Professor John Woodward, Jr. in an interview with Bostania.
For four months, Tozeski spent all his time outside of class and work on finding these 223 names at Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, meticulously scanning BU yearbooks and Bostonia issues — collating names, branches of service, ranks, hometowns, and graduation year in a spreadsheet. His investigation frequently encountered erroneous information, but Tozeski still persevered and remained committed to crosschecking every finding with available state, federal and local records. The result? So far, he has discovered and verified 221 of the 223 names and has even been able to dig up some heroic accounts.
While the hunt for last two names has been paused, Woodward and Tozeski are hopeful that this exploration will expedite the approval for a memorial on campus — serving as an enduring symbol of the sacrifices made by the students and alumni for generations to come. For now, Prof. Woodward has listed the names on the ROTC website, providing an official documentation that may encourage families of the fallen to come forward with additional details or uncover the identities of those not included. The web interface for the Honor Wall page is developed by BU ROTC Cadet Kyron Kern and BU Midshipman Peter Barto (Pardee’25).
Visit the ROTC website to peruse the names on the honor wall curated by Michael Tozeski.
To know more about Prof. Woodward and Michael Tozeski’s efforts, read this story by Bostonia.