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News & Photos
School Pauses in Honor of Memorial Day
The school community gathered with reverence on Memorial Court to observe Memorial Day, and to remember and honor McDonogh alumni who gave their lives in service to our country. The ceremony held Thursday, May 23 included the placing of a wreath at the base of the memorial by Alumni Association President Michael Warshaw ’84 and Chris. B. the 2013-14 student body president. The Lower School bell choir and chorus and the Upper School string ensemble provided music throughout the tribute, and the Upper School Trumpet ensemble played Taps at the close of the ceremony. Headmaster Charlie Britton read excerpts from a speech that Jack Smith ‘63, a Vietnam War veteran delivered a decade ago to commemorate the re-dedication of the Louis E. Lamborn Memorial Field House. His remarks explained why people fight wars.
Smith said, “I have come to believe that it is right that we, the living, should re-dedicate ourselves in places like this, where we grew into adults, to the values for which American soldiers have died in war: freedom, fairness, opportunity and community. This is how I make sense of the deaths of my friends. And it is what we are doing here today: by honoring the school’s war dead, we, in a sense, keep them alive, even if only in our hearts.”
The meaning of Memorial Day was brought to life by John Grega, Director of Religious Studies, Character, and Service, who told the story of Harry Slater, McDonogh Class of 1912. Grega tied Slater’s story to the theme of the mini-series “Band of Brothers” (the title taken from a speech in Shakespeare’s Henry V) and then made it relevant to McDonogh students today. Following is an excerpt from his remarks:
The speech and the mini series both celebrated the bond forged by common struggle and shared valor. Harry Slater, McDonogh class of 1912, found himself in just such a band, with its ties formed years before he began his service in France in World War I. Harry’s name graces the monument before us.
In 1909 Harry entered McDonogh and graduated three years later. In his time at McDonogh, he experienced the highs and lows of academic challenges and the daily give and take of shared life in a boarding school. He came to know a camaraderie rare for other men who like Harry enlisted in the Maryland National Guard in 1914. In two short years, he was sent as part of the American Expeditionary Force involved in the Mexican Border Campaign and found himself with seven other McDonogh alumni. All eight posed for a photograph at Eagle Pass in Texas.
Such connections would continue to follow Harry when his unit was melded into the fabled 29th Division and shipped out for France in early June of 1918. Quickly, his unit was involved in the battle at Chateau-Thierry, a turning point in the war, and Harry was both wounded and gassed in that battle. Once recovering, he rejoined his unit and so distinguished himself that his commanding officer Capt. Philip McIntyre, McDonogh Class of 1904 praised him highly in these words: “(Harry) was extremely well liked by every man in the company as well as by the officers. His record as a soldier was excellent and when in the trenches in Alsace he was always anxious for service regardless of the danger involved and was usually one of the first to volunteer for night patrols in No Man’s Land…” So highly did Capt. McIntyre esteem Harry that he wanted to send him to Officers Training Camp in August of 1918 but Harry wanted to stay with his company and hence declined the opportunity.
That October, Harry was one of many sickened by the influenza pandemic sweeping Europe and the world then. He recovered and served until Armistice Day November 11 and then beyond as part of the peace-keeping force in France. In April of the following year, he was stricken first by acute mastoiditis and phlebitis and then by pneumonia. He died on April 11, 1919. Capt. McIntyre personally oversaw the burial arrangements for his fellow McDonogh Alum and cut through an enormous amount of bureaucratic red tape to ensure that Harry would receive a full and proper military burial. At his funeral members of his own platoon fired the three volley salute and his own company’s two buglers sounded taps to end the service.
In a few short moments, taps will sound for us and remind us of the sacrifice of men like Harry Slater and Robert Atkinson and Howard Fisher and Clarence Lilly and Harry Hedges. Taps will remind us of the ties they shared with each other and might well remind us of the ties which enrich our own lives. The bonds of fellowship at McDonogh have expanded significantly since the time Harry Slater shared Eagle Pass with Bill Ackerman and Charlie Berg and Walt Adams. Much greater diversity in race and gender and religion now marks our community and in no way weakens the bonds which unite us. Yet such bonds are only opportunities, not realities; we must call them into being by the way we respond and become a band of brothers and of sisters. We make real these bonds every time we brush past the familiarity which daily contact breeds and appreciate the relationships for the treasures they actually are. Every time we deepen a relationship, we honor the bonds forged by Harry Slater and Lou Spangler and Bill Alderice which helped propel them to service.
When we join with others in any common endeavor here at school, we affirm such relationships. Perhaps it is a joint effort to help with animal rescue or to rehab a home for a family which has none. Perhaps it is to reach out to a student struggling with a Latin gerund or a complex algorithm or a robotics circuit. Perhaps it is to read stories to a kindergarten class or to lead the first grade in a service project to help the homeless. Perhaps it is to help a second grader make sandwiches for a soup kitchen or to assist a team mate with technique or with attitude. Every time we share such moments with generous heart and spirit, we affirm the value and priceless gift which are our relationships here, relationships we dare not take for granted.
Harry Slater was part of a band of brothers and risked his place in that band to serve a higher purpose. May we serve a higher purpose and dedicate ourselves to learn what selfless dedication means. With such dedication we shall continue to honor Harry Slater, to honor all whose names appear on the monument, to honor all those who at great cost dedicated themselves to the good of our land and to a better world.
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The school community gathered with reverence on Memorial Court to observe Memorial Day, and to remember and honor McDonogh alumni who gave their lives in service to our country. The ceremony held Thursday, May 23 included the placing of a wreath at the base of the memorial by Alumni Association President Michael Warshaw ’84 and Chris. B. the 2013-14 student body president. The Lower School bell choir and chorus and the Upper School string ensemble provided music throughout the tribute, and the Upper School Trumpet ensemble played Taps at the close of the ceremony. Headmaster Charlie Britton read excerpts from a speech that Jack Smith ‘63, a Vietnam War veteran delivered a decade ago to commemorate the re-dedication of the Louis E. Lamborn Memorial Field House. His remarks explained why people fight wars.
Smith said, “I have come to believe that it is right that we, the living, should re-dedicate ourselves in places like this, where we grew into adults, to the values for which American soldiers have died in war: freedom, fairness, opportunity and community. This is how I make sense of the deaths of my friends. And it is what we are doing here today: by honoring the school’s war dead, we, in a sense, keep them alive, even if only in our hearts.”
The meaning of Memorial Day was brought to life by John Grega, Director of Religious Studies, Character, and Service, who told the story of Harry Slater, McDonogh Class of 1912. Grega tied Slater’s story to the theme of the mini-series “Band of Brothers” (the title taken from a speech in Shakespeare’s Henry V) and then made it relevant to McDonogh students today. Following is an excerpt from his remarks:
The speech and the mini series both celebrated the bond forged by common struggle and shared valor. Harry Slater, McDonogh class of 1912, found himself in just such a band, with its ties formed years before he began his service in France in World War I. Harry’s name graces the monument before us.
In 1909 Harry entered McDonogh and graduated three years later. In his time at McDonogh, he experienced the highs and lows of academic challenges and the daily give and take of shared life in a boarding school. He came to know a camaraderie rare for other men who like Harry enlisted in the Maryland National Guard in 1914. In two short years, he was sent as part of the American Expeditionary Force involved in the Mexican Border Campaign and found himself with seven other McDonogh alumni. All eight posed for a photograph at Eagle Pass in Texas.
Such connections would continue to follow Harry when his unit was melded into the fabled 29th Division and shipped out for France in early June of 1918. Quickly, his unit was involved in the battle at Chateau-Thierry, a turning point in the war, and Harry was both wounded and gassed in that battle. Once recovering, he rejoined his unit and so distinguished himself that his commanding officer Capt. Philip McIntyre, McDonogh Class of 1904 praised him highly in these words: “(Harry) was extremely well liked by every man in the company as well as by the officers. His record as a soldier was excellent and when in the trenches in Alsace he was always anxious for service regardless of the danger involved and was usually one of the first to volunteer for night patrols in No Man’s Land…” So highly did Capt. McIntyre esteem Harry that he wanted to send him to Officers Training Camp in August of 1918 but Harry wanted to stay with his company and hence declined the opportunity.
That October, Harry was one of many sickened by the influenza pandemic sweeping Europe and the world then. He recovered and served until Armistice Day November 11 and then beyond as part of the peace-keeping force in France. In April of the following year, he was stricken first by acute mastoiditis and phlebitis and then by pneumonia. He died on April 11, 1919. Capt. McIntyre personally oversaw the burial arrangements for his fellow McDonogh Alum and cut through an enormous amount of bureaucratic red tape to ensure that Harry would receive a full and proper military burial. At his funeral members of his own platoon fired the three volley salute and his own company’s two buglers sounded taps to end the service.
In a few short moments, taps will sound for us and remind us of the sacrifice of men like Harry Slater and Robert Atkinson and Howard Fisher and Clarence Lilly and Harry Hedges. Taps will remind us of the ties they shared with each other and might well remind us of the ties which enrich our own lives. The bonds of fellowship at McDonogh have expanded significantly since the time Harry Slater shared Eagle Pass with Bill Ackerman and Charlie Berg and Walt Adams. Much greater diversity in race and gender and religion now marks our community and in no way weakens the bonds which unite us. Yet such bonds are only opportunities, not realities; we must call them into being by the way we respond and become a band of brothers and of sisters. We make real these bonds every time we brush past the familiarity which daily contact breeds and appreciate the relationships for the treasures they actually are. Every time we deepen a relationship, we honor the bonds forged by Harry Slater and Lou Spangler and Bill Alderice which helped propel them to service.
When we join with others in any common endeavor here at school, we affirm such relationships. Perhaps it is a joint effort to help with animal rescue or to rehab a home for a family which has none. Perhaps it is to reach out to a student struggling with a Latin gerund or a complex algorithm or a robotics circuit. Perhaps it is to read stories to a kindergarten class or to lead the first grade in a service project to help the homeless. Perhaps it is to help a second grader make sandwiches for a soup kitchen or to assist a team mate with technique or with attitude. Every time we share such moments with generous heart and spirit, we affirm the value and priceless gift which are our relationships here, relationships we dare not take for granted.
Harry Slater was part of a band of brothers and risked his place in that band to serve a higher purpose. May we serve a higher purpose and dedicate ourselves to learn what selfless dedication means. With such dedication we shall continue to honor Harry Slater, to honor all whose names appear on the monument, to honor all those who at great cost dedicated themselves to the good of our land and to a better world.