Close Encounters of the Maternal Kind
When Sgt. John Cunningham ’00 returned from deployment in Iraq, a local news photographer captured this shot at a welcome-home ceremony at the JFK Coliseum in Manchester. He is greeted by his mother, Ann, and his grandmother, Helen Tolderland. The Goffstown, N.H., resident is a team leader with the Army Reserve 94th Military Police Company of Londonderry. He was deployed for 22 months, with 15 1/2 months spent in Iraq. For 12 months, his platoon was attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, performing combat patrols, security escorts, target raids, and various other combat missions primarily in the Sunni Triangle.

As a criminal justice major at Saint Anselm, Cunningham was a member of the Rescue Team, serving as captain in his senior year. He joined the Manchester Police Department after graduation, and is back on duty as a patrolman.