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Lifelong Navy Veteran Gives Incredible Commencement Speech

William H. McRaven is an admiral in the United States Navy and is a 36-year veteran of the Navy SEALs. Admiral McRaven is also a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he returned this spring to give the commencement speech for the graduating class. In what could go down as the best commencement speech this year, Admiral McRaven delivers wisdom, inspiration and even humor throughout his speech.

McRaven returned almost 37 years to the day that he graduated from the school to give the speech. So, by doing simple math, McRaven has been out of school for 37 years and has spent 36 of them as a Navy SEAL. The speech is embedded in this post, courtesy of Upworthy, but here is the opening of his speech.

“It’s been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. I remember a lot of things about that day. I remember I had a throbbing headache from a party the night before. I remember I had a serious girlfriend, who I later married. That’s important to remember, by the way. And I remember I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day.”

Take a look at the video below and leave your thoughts about it in our comments section.

Jim Vassallo: Jim is a freelance writer based out of the suburbs of Philadelphia in New Jersey. Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and minor in Journalism from Rowan University in 2008. While in school he was the Assistant Sports Director at WGLS for two years and the Sports Director for one year. He also covered the football, baseball, softball and both basketball teams for the school newspaper 'The Whit.' Jim lives in New Jersey with his wife Nicole, son Tony and dog Phoebe.

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