Ensign Aidan Gallegos: A hometown standout
 

By Peter F. Stevens Boston Irish Contributor

   Aidan Gallegos was standing at a personal and professional crossroads. For the 2017 graduate of Catholic Memorial High School and 2021 graduate of Santa Clara University in California, a lucrative path in Silicon Valley beckoned. A different course, however, tugged at him, too. Imbued with a deep love of country and a desire to serve, he mulled commitment to a career as a US Navy Surface Warfare Officer.

   Seeking guidance, he turned to his family and to his longtime counselor and friend, Rev. Sean Connor, pastor at Sacred Heart Church, in Weymouth, Massachusetts.

   Gallegos’s interest in Officer Candidate School, in Newport, Rhode Island, presented no small challenge. The intensive program runs 13 week, and, according to Captain Dave Hecht, public affairs officer for the chief of Naval Personnel in Washington, the course would “put Gallegos and his classmates to the test morally, mentally, and physically.  If he passes and graduates with his class in late January [2022], he’ll be commissioned as an ensign and join the ranks of our Navy’s leadership.”

     Gallegos proved up to the task and he recently spoke with Boston Irish Magazine about his passion to serve his country and his love of the Navy. He discussed those who have always supported him, citing not only his father, his mother, and his sister, but also Father Connor, who spoke with this writer about his long-running relationship with the Gallegos family and his admiration for and pride in Aidan.

  The pastor was uniquely qualified to offer advice to Aidan Gallegos as the young man weighed his choices—the cleric had served as a Boston police officer before finding his vocation with the Catholic Church. He, too, had stood at the crossroads personally and professionally.

Following are excerpts from the conversation with Gallegos:

Q.  Your parents are both immigrants?

A. Yes, my mom, Mary Linehan Gallegos, was born and raised in County Cork. She emigrated to the US in her 20s. My Dad is from Mexico and served in the US Air Force. We’ve always been a tightly knit family. My sister, Fiona, is a student in Chicago. While my parents live in Austin [Texas] now, I was raised on the Quincy-Weymouth line, and Sacred Heart in Weymouth was our parish.

Q.  How did you and your family come to know Father Connor?

A. My mom worked for the archdiocese, in administration, and also with Father Connors at Sacred Heart. He became not only a great friend to all of us, but also a mentor for me. He always has had a way of pointing me in the right direction, so when I was thinking about joining the Navy, he understood. He had been a Boston police officer for a long time and had seen just about everything. He has always been about service to others, and he had a tough choice to make when he thought about the priesthood. He knows me. My family supported my choice, too.

   My original goal was Silicon Valley, but as I started thinking about how the military instills values that I will carry everywhere, I realized that now was the time to do this. Father Connor agreed, pointing me in the right direction. The priest in conversation related his firm belief that Aidan would thrive as a Naval officer and evinced no doubt that he would earn graduation from the program.

Q. What has Officer Candidate School been like for you?

A. Really challenging. The training officer and drill instructors are demanding and expect your best all the time. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

   Connor, who came to Sacred Heart via St. Ann’s in Dorchester, hailed from a law-enforcement family and now serves as chaplain to the Boston Police Department. At age 31, he said, Pope John Paul’s visit to Dorchester in 1979 ignited his desire to swap a BPD badge for a priest’s collar.

   Of Aidan, he says, “His family’s immigrant experience has shaped him. He has a brilliant mind, and like his father, he is an accomplished musician on both the piano and the guitar. I feel like a big brother to him. What really sets him apart and makes him stand out are his moral center and his kindness. He’s exactly the type of outstanding young man who will serve as an outstanding Naval officer. The country’s fortunate to have him in its service.”

 After he graduated from Officer Candidate School, Gallegios was assigned to San Diego. “I’m hoping for deployment on a guided-missile cruiser to the South China Sea and the Pacific. I look forward to the chance to work with our allies and serve the country.”

   As Captain Hecht aptly notes, “Young men and women like this Officer Candidate [Aidan Gallegos] deserve to be recognized in their community for the service and sacrifice they are providing to our Navy and to our nation.”