BOSTON—Actor Rick Schroder could hardly refuse when he opened an e-mail in Spain several days ago that invited him to a Veterans Day ceremony at Harvard University, honoring 16 alumni who were Medal of Honor recipients.
In attempting to locate family members or descendants of the recipients, Harvard was unable to find anyone to represent Lt. Col. Charles W. Whittlesey. The Harvard Veterans Alumni Organization then turned to the next best thing -- the actor who portrayed Whittlesey in the 2001 TV film "Lost Battalion."
Schroder said he felt obliged to attend Wednesday's ceremony "because of what (Whittlesey) did, and what all of these other men have done and what all the vets do."
Harvard's Medal of Honor recipients span a period from the Civil War to the Vietnam War. Whittlesey died in 1921.
In October 1918, Whittlesey commanded one of two battalions that spent five days inside enemy lines in the Argonne Forest, cut off, without food, and surrounded by German troops. Despite being wounded, first in the knee by shrapnel and later in the shoulder by a German grenade, he continued to command his troops and resist surrender.
Eventually, Whittlesey and surviving members of his battalion were able to walk out of the forest. He was awarded a Medal of Honor upon his return to the United States later that year.
Portraying Whittlesey was "a fantastic opportunity as an actor and also as an American to honor somebody who did what he did," Schroder said in an interview after the ceremony. "They went five miles behind German lines and spent five days there, and had a helluva time, and they overcame it."
Schroder described the ceremony as "very touching."
He said he currently is living in Spain to give his family an international experience.
