UNG honors Purcell's lifetime of service

Purcell received the honorary degree during the Mike Cottrell College of Business and University College commencement ceremony, surrounded by friends, graduates and members of the UNG community.

Anne Purcell is the widow of the late Col. Ben Purcell, a North Georgia graduate who was a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam for more than five years before later serving as commandant and professor of military science at UNG. The two met as students at North Georgia in 1949. When Ben Purcell graduated and commissioned as an Army officer, Anne Purcell left North Georgia to begin a life defined by service, resilience and leadership alongside her husband.

"Your life and Colonel Purcell's reflect the very best of this university and the very best of America," UNG President Michael Shannon said. "And it's what we hope to cultivate in every graduate who walks this campus and this stage today."

Over the years that followed, Anne Purcell raised the couple's five children while supporting her husband's military service through deployments and the uncertainty of war.

During the Vietnam War, Ben Purcell's aircraft was shot down, and he was held captive for more than five years. He was the most senior Army officer held in captivity during the war and had previously served in the Korean War.

"Five years of isolation, five years of hardship, five years of uncertainty," Shannon said. "But there were, in truth, two battlefields. One was a prison camp in Vietnam. The other was back at home."

While her husband endured years of captivity, much of it in solitary confinement, Anne Purcell carried the weight of uncertainty while raising their children and sustaining the family through unimaginable circumstances.

"No certainty, no closure, no timeline," Shannon said. "Only responsibility, only faith, only duty."

The Purcells' children - David, Debbie, Cliff, Sherri, and Joy - attended the commencement ceremony where their mother was honored. Anne Purcell's college roommate, Ann Nix Skelton, also attended to celebrate the occasion.

In his recommendation letter supporting the honorary degree, retired Lt. Gen. James Terry, senior vice president and superintendent of UNG's Cadet Leadership Academy, wrote that Anne Purcell's impact extended far beyond her role as a military spouse.

"Mrs. Purcell's story is inseparable from that of her late husband, Colonel Benjamin Harrison Purcell Junior. And his story is inseparable from hers as her sacrifices and dedication made their shared service and impact on our country, state, communities, and families possible," Terry wrote. "Mrs. Purcell has impacted the lives of countless families through her advocacy, leadership, volunteerism, and service."

As graduates crossed the stage around her, Anne Purcell's return to UNG represented more than a long-awaited degree. It reflected a lifetime of service, sacrifice, resilience, and quiet leadership, the very qualities UNG hopes every graduate carries forward.

For more on UNG honoring Anne Purcell's legacy, see a Now Georgia article on the ceremony.