URI Today

Monday, April 11, 2011
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Photo courtesy of Maj. Matthew Pierce

Major success for URI graduate student

Little did Matthew Pierce know on the day he graduated with a psychology degree from the University of Rhode Island in 2001 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, that the world would change dramatically within a few months and shape his life. Nor did he realize that 10 years later he would be a URI student again, pursuing his master�s and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology. But this time, it would be as a recently promoted Major.

Pierce was stationed at Fort Bragg, N. C. when terrorists hijacked four commercial planes and attacked America. Within a year and a half, he was part of the initial invasion of Iraq, working as medical platoon leader for the 1-325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division for 11 months.

When he returned from his deployment, he was assigned as a human resource...

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