Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Christopher Grasso named Hokie Hero

4 Dec 2008

Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus Capt. Christopher Grasso, who received a degree in history from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences in 2000, has been selected as a Hokie Hero.

The corps Hokie Hero program, started in 2006 by ISP Sports and sponsored by the University Bookstore, honors Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumni who are currently deployed. Recipients of this honor are featured during the radio broadcast of Virginia Tech football games, on the corps website, on the corps alumni website, and in the Corps Review magazine.

Grasso is currently stationed at Al Asad Airbase, Iraq, as a member of the Military Police Task Force, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, United States Marine Corps. He is from Fredericksburg, Va., and this is his second combat deployment -- his fifth Thanksgiving or Christmas away from his family. Grasso is a Class of 2000 graduate of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, a department in the Division of Student Affairs. He and his wife Hillary have two daughters, Ava and Reese.

Grasso says of his responsibilities in Iraq: “We are an Artillery Battalion tasked with conducting Convoy security, Detention Operations and Military Working Dogs in Al Anbar. Really, we end up becoming a jack of all trades (as everyone does in a counterinsurgency). I have a platoon of Marines assigned to me and they are really good; smart, mature, and self starters. They are capable without me which is what you want out of your subordinates. I spend most of my efforts getting them the resources they need to accomplish above what the mission requires. They do not tolerate laziness or lack of effort out of each other. I challenge them with training and tasks and they deliver tenfold. They hold the same expectations of me and that is rewarding.”