New inductees to the Yorktown High School Hall of Fame & Inspiration praised the school’s impact on their lives during a Sept. 18 induction ceremony.
“This feels like time travel,” said retired Air Force Lt. General Charles “Chip” Roadman II, a member of Yorktown’s inaugural Class of 1962.
Roadman was one of nine former students inducted into the hall of fame, bringing the total number enshrined to 53.
Roadman, a physician who served as the 16th surgeon general of the Air Force, said those walking the halls of what then was a new high school “did not quite fully understand how fortunate we were.”
“I’m truly grateful for my teachers, my classmates, my family and Yorktown High School,” he said. “Nobody did this on their own.”
For many growing up in what Roadman called the “Leave It to Beaver” era in between the Korean and Vietnam wars, life in the late 1950s/early 1960s was a good time, he said.
“We lived in a safe environment,” Roadman said, calling Arlington “an unusually supportive community.”
He noted that the Class of 1962 produced a U.S. senator, military leaders and business titans — as well as a onetime member of the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List.
Roadman’s wife, Ann Smith Roadman, was also a member of the Class of 1962. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame & Inspiration in 2004 as part of the group of “Fourteen Friends,” women from the Class of 1962 who have written about elder care issues.
The idea for a Hall of Fame & Inspiration began in 2004.
“I’ve witnessed its metamorphosis,” said Bob Witeck, a member of the Class of 1970 who was inducted in 2022.
Witeck led the Sept. 18 program. In addition to 2026 honorees and their families, nearly a dozen past inductees attended.
Yorktown Principal Bridget Loft said the Hall of Fame & Inspiration does not just look to the past.
“It’s been about providing examples for our students who walk the halls every day,” she said. “The achievements enrich our legacy and provide inspiration.”
Harvey Ernest, a member of the Class of 1967 who went on to a business career and philanthropic efforts, also attended Yorktown during its early days.
“It was the best high school in the world. Positive energy surrounded the place,” he said during induction remarks. “It was quite a great place to start your adulthood.”
Some of the inductees were unable to take part because of previous commitments or health issues. Matthew Bradley, a member of the Class of 2000 and now a correspondent for NBC News, sent a message from Tel Aviv, where he is posted.
“The teachers at Yorktown were exceptional, and I’m sure, a quarter of a century later, they still are,” he said.
Bradley graduated in 2000 with his twin sister Kathryn. Their father, Samuel Bradley, who died in July, was a member of the inaugural Class of 1962.
“He would have loved to have been here tonight,” Bradley said in his written remarks.
Scott Taylor, a local historian who leads the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington, was a member of the Class of 1978.
Coming from the then-segregated enclave of Halls Hills to a largely white high school in the 1970s, Taylor said there were opportunities but also challenges for Black students.
“I learned to give 200%,” he said while reciting an original poem detailing his experiences. “I never felt lesser and I refused to ever hide.”
Taylor expressed delight in being chosen for induction.
“This is amazing,” he said.
The full roster of 2026 inductees:
- Bonnie Atwood, Class of 1965, journalist, author, social justice advocate
- Matthew Bradley, Class of 2000, award-winning foreign correspondent
- Lowell Byran, Class of 1964, business strategist
- Harvey Ernest, Class of 1967, business executive and civil leader
- John “Rob” Marsh III, MD, Class of 1974, military physician and 2014 “Country Doctor of the Year”
- Laurie Mathews, Class of 1970, conservationist, global health pioneer
- Chris O’Connell, Class of 1970, Grammy Award-winning singer and advocate for animals
- Lt. Gen. Charles “Chip” Roadman II, MD, Class of 1962, Air Force Surgeon General
- Scott Taylor, Class of 1978, historian, journalist and community leader
The event also paid tribute to Charlie Clark, a local journalist/historian who was a driving force behind creation of the hall of fame and inspiration.
“It was Charlie who toiled and sweated” in support of Yorktown, Witeck said.
Clark died in November 2023. At the Sept. 18 event, his daughter Elizabeth Clark McKenzie — also a Yorktown graduate — discussed what the hall of fame meant to her father.
“It was a very special project for him,” McKenzie said.
Clark “really cherished community,” and the hall of fame represented “a space that would spark those kinds of connections,” she said.
Also honored at the event was longtime Yorktown educator and varsity football coach Bruce Hanson.
Hanson spent a half-century in education, including 40 years at Yorktown, before his retirement in 2025.
Hanson coached more than 1,000 players at the high school, who through him “learned much more than football,” said Mike Krulfeld, the school’s director of student activities.
Krulfeld said Hanson was a mainstay and role model after coming to the school from Wakefield High School.
“I feel awful lucky that I ended here,” Hanson said. “It was just a great place to coach. I miss it a lot.”
