Leave to Serve, in the Military

For decades, a phrase intimately associated with De La Salle High School in Concord has been “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve”. While students think of all the wonderful projects that happen at the school in service of the poor and social justice, like the Cereal Drive, Toy Drive, and Charity Challenge, the goal is to have that sense of service carry on throughout the rest of our students' lives. There are a wide variety of avenues for that to take place, and one way is to join one of the Services. Dozens and dozens of Spartan graduates have devoted themselves to serving our country in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard (any Space Force Guardians out there yet?).

While the United States has not declared war since WWII, we have been involved in many conflicts since Vietnam: Grenada (1983), Panama (1989), Lebanon Peace Keeping Force (1982-1984), the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991), Bosnia (1995-1996), Operation Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn (2003-2011), Operation Enduring Freedom (2001-2014), Operation Freedom Sentinel (2015-2021), ISIS, etc. We have graduates in the service as far back as Patrick Gallagher from the class of 1970 to Tristan Bonderer from the class of 2020, with service members who graduated in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s, 2010’s and 2020’s. De La Salle volunteering for Service has been amazingly consistent throughout the decades. When it comes to service representation, the Army came in first, the Marines second, the Navy third, and the Air Force and Coast Guard were honorable mentions. 

Two graduates gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for our country. Less than a month after the attack of September 11th, Operation Enduring Freedom began with the bombing of military targets in Afghanistan. While initially successful, persistent Taliban/Al-Qaeda insurgents and the attempt to rebuild made the effort continue on for many years. Sadly, Captain John L. Hallett III and SrA Jonathan A. Vega Yelner lost their lives at the ages of 30 and 25, respectively.

Captain Hallett graduated from De La Salle in 1997, as a varsity water polo player. He went on to graduate from West Point in 2001, including being the water polo team captain his senior cadet year. John was killed, along with three other soldiers, by an IED in Afghanistan. He was remembered by his wife as an amazing father of three, devoted and joyful husband, thoughtful son, loving brother and inspiring friend. He was a patient teacher to our children.

SrA Jake Yelner graduated from De La Salle in 2002. A Lacrosse player and Eagle Scott, he was helping others in Afghanistan by building roads, buildings, and water supplies when he also died from an IED. Quoted as saying he was never afraid of greatness, he was also never afraid of speaking truth to his friends. Our former librarian, Elaine Seed, remembers him as a tall, skinny kid who would reach out to the librarians instead of the other way around and took the time to get to know her. It spoke volumes of his warmth, thoughtfulness, and kindness. Jake was shy because he was observant. The choice to join the Air Force was a perfect fit for this smart, loyal, responsible, and determined person. For Elaine, news of his death was hard to hear; he had so much more goodness to give the world and his loved ones. 

De La Salle has a list of approximately 70 graduates who entered the military at some point after graduation. If you have not made us aware of your military service, please feel free to fill out the following Google Survey and let us know:

Military Service Form

This We’ll Defend; Semper Fi; Not Self but Country; Aim High .. Fly, Fight, Win; Always Ready; and GO SPARTANS!

Here is a listing of De La Salle High School Alums who have served in the military.