Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

WARWICK, RI -- Craig M. Mullaney, the Afghanistan war veteran and adviser to President Obama, returned to a loud and emotional welcome Thursday afternoon at his alma mater, Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick.

Mullaney, Class of '96, is in town to speak about his experiences chronicled in his new book, The Unforgiving Minute, which has just moved to No. 10 on The New York Times bestseller list.

Wearing a green Hendricken sweatshirt, Mullaney greeted a gymnasium filled with some 1,000 students, faculty and alumni with the cheer, ``Go Hawks!''

The crowd hushed as he described a battle in Afghanistan in which his platoon lost a soldier under his command, and how the lessons of service and curiosity instilled at Hendricken helped him prepare for that moment.

``It's amazing how ordinary heroism is when you're in combat,'' he said. ``Only a few are recognized, but it's hard not to see it in everyone's actions. There are not enough medals to go around.''

Mullaney, the subject of a three-part Providence Journal series earlier this week, also drew laughs when he described his first, awkward encounter with future-President Obama and his national TV appearance last week on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

But one Hendricken student had a more immediate concern: Mullaney's favorite memory from Hendricken.

``My senior prank,'' Mullaney replied without hesitation. ``We snuck into the school early in the morning and filled the senior hallway with Dixie cups filled with water.''

Mullaney, who also spoke at North Providence High School Thursday morning, will sign his book Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Books on the Square, 471 Angell St., on the East Side of Providence.

 Tags  Craig Mullaney Hendricken Obama

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