Public historian and retired museum director Dr. Charles Bryan visited St. Christopher's on Wednesday, May 23, 2018.  Dr. Bryan's appearance was made possible by the Williams-McElroy History Endowment, established in 2014 to promote the study and understanding of history. 

At the start of his remarks, Dr. Bryan asked the boys to first look at the person on their left, then on their right, before asking them the question, "Who among you is going to be a hero?" He then showed several photos of his high school classmates, finally coming to an image of his friend Bobby Ray, who became a corpsman in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Bobby ultimately sacrified his life in the war when he used his body to shield a wounded Marine when a grenade landed next to them. Posthumously, Bobby earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor. 

Before taking questions, Dr. Bryan reiterated his original question, "Who among you is going to be a hero?" Adding that he didn't want the boys to follow the fate of his friend Bobby Ray, he closed with a charge. "I expect all of you to do something heroic sometime in your life." 

Previous speakers brought to StC by the Williams-McElroy endowment include Richmond Battlefield Park Ranger Mike Gorman, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and New York Times best-selling author S.C. Gwynne, and author Dean King '81.