Hockey Great Mike Eruzione Visits the Bedford VA

Joe Brown (l) grew up in North Woodstock, NH. A Vietnam Veteran, Joe remembers that hockey game like it was yesterday. Now he will have a memory built on another memory. Joe said: “Having Eruzione here at the VA means a lot to me and to all of us here.” Joe made sure he had Mike sign a picture for his roommate; a gesture of camaraderie between Vets who have each other’s backs – Image (c) OC Jon O’Connor, 2017 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image

By OC Jon O’Connor


Pictured on the left here, a very big hockey fan, Normand Dube, was probably the most excited to meet Mike. Normand, a Vietnam Veteran living in Gardner, MA, brought in the framed photos on the wall behind them. Mike not only signed the Olympic photo for Normand, but also signed the framed pictures, and the book “One Goal: A Chronical of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team. Mike commented, “It’s a pleasure to give back to the Veterans, I always come to these type of events when asked” – Image (c) OC Jon O’Connor, 2017 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image

February 1980: Iran Hostage Crisis, Cold War with Russia heightens, US announces boycotting the Summer Olympics in Moscow, and the US economy weighed heavily on all American citizens. Fast forward nearly 40 years, to the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital (Bedford VA) The man whose name translates from Italian into the English word “eruption” appears again. Yes, Mike Eruzione, Captain of the 1980 US Hockey Olympic Team, visited Bedford on Tuesday, June 20, 2017.

A Sports Illustrated reporter described that 1980 hockey game: “It may just be the single most indelible moment in all of U.S. sports history. One that sent an entire nation into frenzy.” Eruzione and his teammates catapulted the general public’s spirits over the moon with their winning goal, upsetting the Russian Olympic dream team. He again lifted the spirits of all who came to see him in Bedford on Tuesday.

Eruzione and his teammates catapulted the general public’s spirits over the moon with their winning goal, upsetting the Russian Olympic dream team. He again lifted the spirits of all who came to see him in Bedford on Tuesday.

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Hollywood made a movie out of that hockey game played in Lake Placid, and “Miracle on Ice” bolstered the mood of everyone who watched it. There is hardly an individual who can’t recall what they were doing that great day in the Olympic Stadium in New York. You could hear that spirit again and again in the conversations each of the Vets had with Mike during his tour at the VA. Eruzione made each and every one of them feel 110% welcome and appreciated.

Eruzione has quite a history with Veterans – there are many in his immediate family.  One uncle was awarded the Silver Star; he has a nephew who graduated from the US Naval Academy, now serving in the USMC; and his Dad was a Marine in WWII.

While talking with Bedford VA resident Ed Keenan who once lived in East Boston, the conversation shifted to Mike’s Dad and arguably the best pizza in the country. Ed, another WWII Vet, was amazed that he knew Mike’s dad who worked at Santarpio’s in East Boston. Mike went on to say his Dad worked there for almost 50 years. “Do yourself a big favor,” Eruzione counseled, “try a Santarpio’s slice someday soon!”

There were Vets with all kinds of hats. Naturally, there were the Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force type. But, there also seemed to be a well thought out theme to honor Mike’s presence; Italian flag hats and Bruins hockey caps were prevalent too.

Eruzione reflected with several Vets, including this writer, on his college years at Boston University (BU), a very strong hockey franchise, and what could be known as the BU Pot. I told him that I went to the college on the other end of Commonwealth Ave (BC), and occasionally we still need to call it the Bean Pot.

Mike wore the Boston University Athletics shirt of red proudly that day. He also scored the key goal over the highly rated Soviet Team to attain the Gold Medal for the USA. However the colors that will be remembered from his visit to the VA on Tuesday will be all Red, White, and Blue – Thank You Mike for your heart of Gold !

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