Pennington School head of school Dr. William S. Hawkey, Julien Torrens, Wendy Childers, Lt. Col. Ellison, student Clare Long (Skillman) and former head of school Penny Townsend pose on Feb. 19, 2014.
The Pennington School welcomed the next speaker in its Stephen Crane Lecture Series, U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Kyle B. Ellison, on Feb. 19.
Ellison was invited to speak at the school by sophomore Clare Long, who met Ellison through her longstanding volunteer work with American troops overseas and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Ellison brought with him two other special guests; Julian Torrens, a double amputee who served in Afghanistan in Ellison’s battalion, and Wendy Childers, a Gold Star mother whose son died while serving with Torrens and Ellison.
Speaking to an audience comprising the entire Upper School, the faculty, and veterans from surrounding communities at Pennington Presbyterian Church, Long talked first about her commitment to honor our American troops overseas. She then introduced Ellison.
Ellison spoke about his experience with the Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Torrens then took the podium to describe what it was like to be injured by an explosive while in the line of duty. After Torrens’ speech, Childers spoke about her mission to send care packages to overseas troops to honor her fallen son, Cody, who lost his life at 19 years of age.
Commissioned in May 1993, Ellison is currently assigned to the J-5, Middle East Directorate, on the Joint Staff. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the Pennsylvania State University and master’s degrees from the Marine Corps University and National War College.
During his more than 20 years in the Corps, Ellison has been deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Okinawa, Japan; Marjah, Afghanistan; and Iraq.
The Stephen Crane Lecture Series has a long tradition at The Pennington School. The series commemorates the author of The Red Badge of Courage, who was a student at Pennington in the 1880s and whose father was headmaster of the school.
