Each year on November 11th, the United States celebrates Veteran’s Day—an opportunity to recognize and honor the incredible service and sacrifice of our veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. The date is significant as it commemorates the Armistice of November 11, 1918, the formal agreement that marked the official end of World War I.
This year, we are proud to introduce and share the story of one of our veteran colleagues John Mazzuchelli, who served in both the Army National Guard in the RI National Guard 115 Military Police Company (1997-2005) and the Air National Guard (2009-2013) for more than 12 years combined.
John joined our RISD Dining team as a Cook in March 2022, bringing his experience working in food service during his time in the military to our dining program.
“What I miss the most about my time in the service is the comradery between other troops, and there are times that I miss being over there,” shared John. “It’s definitely something to be proud of and something I am glad that I did. It gave me a good outlook on life, I hold my head high, and I try to be a pillar to my job and my community, always.”
While serving in our U.S. Armed Forces, John was deployed to Kuwait, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during some significant missions for our military, and he describes the experience as being a total team effort. John remains connected to many of the friends he made in his unit, and noted some of his favorite memories included playing sports with his peers during deployment, as well as a very special Super Bowl experience.
“We were deployed to Iraq during the 2004 Super Bowl, and Bo Jackson came to Kuwait to watch the game with us. This is when the Patriot’s started to become a dynasty, and it was a really exciting opportunity,” John recalled.
John, thank you for sharing your story with us, and for your years of dedicated military service. We would also like to sincerely thank and recognize all of our veteran colleagues—thank you for your service and for your sacrifice.