Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumnus 1st Lt. John Piluso, U.S. Marine Corps who earned a degree in history from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences as well as a minor in leadership studies from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Rice Center for Leader Development in 2011 has been selected as the Hokie Hero for the Boston College game.

The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Hokie Hero program started in 2006 by IMG College and sponsored by the University Bookstore, honors Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets alumni who are currently deployed. Recipients of this honor are highlighted by Bill Roth and Mike Burnop during the radio broadcast of Virginia Tech football games, on the Corps of Cadets website and in the Corps Review magazine.

Piluso recently returned home from his first deployment due to the redeployment of his battalion a month early. He was stationed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan, where he served as an Electronic Warfare Officer and a logistics officer. The team he led provided logistics support to deployed units and supervised the closing of former operating bases.    

Piluso is from Alexandria, Va., and is a Class of 2011 graduate of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets where he served as the Golf Company First Sergeant and was a member of Raider Company.

He says he sends his love to his family in Alexandria and Oxford, Md., and thanks his fellow Hokies and service members serving throughout the world.

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