Harvard Yard
Home of American heroes.
It’s always easy to poke fun at the World’s Greatest University across the Charles, all the more so in recent decades as, like much of academia, it sank in a wretched swamp of America-bashing leftism while continuing to survey the world down its superior nose.
Did you know that Harvard can now boast no fewer than 16 Medals of Honor among its alums? Thanks to the efforts of some veterans who have long treasured their university’s military traditions and dug into military records and Harvard archives, the university can claim the highest known number outside the service academies.
From Gettysburg to Vietnam … where, while others protested back home in Harvard Yard, 22 Harvard men were killed in action … Boston Herald:
A “long Crimson line” of American heroes just keeps getting longer - a Harvard University alumni researcher has found no fewer than 16 Harvard alums who earned the Medal of Honor.
“It was surprising,” admitted Paul Mawn, a retired Navy captain who spent a year researching Harvard grads who received the nation’s highest military award. He says Harvard may have more Medal of Honor alums than any other civilian university.
Ten names appear on a plaque that will be dedicated at Harvard’s Memorial Chapel tomorrow by the Harvard Veterans Alumni Organization, with Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and relatives of some honorees attending.
A Wall Street Journal column reported that news last week. Then, Mawn said, “We started getting calls from relatives.” Six more names were confirmed against military and Harvard records.
They date from the Civil War - Col. Henry Huidekoper earned his medal and lost his arm at Gettysburg - to Vietnam, where Staff Sgt. Robert Murray threw himself on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers. Marine Lt. Sherrod Skinner, whose twin brother and fellow Marine will be attending, also received his Medal of Honor posthumously, for throwing himself on a grenade in Korea.
Others include President Theodore Roosevelt, for leading the charge up San Juan Hill under heavy fire in the Spanish-American war, and Roosevelt’s son Teddy Jr., a general who, using a cane, went ashore in the first wave on Utah Beach on D-Day and rallied his men under enemy fire.
Outside of West Point and Annapolis, Mawn said he believes Harvard alums may hold the most Medals of Honor of any university. Virginia Tech, the Virginia Military Institute and Texas A&M each claim seven. The University of Washington claims eight.
Of tomorrow’s commemoration, Mawn said, “Part of the objective is to honor these men who had been largely forgotten.” But in time of war, when many Harvard students have had little exposure to the military, he added, “Part of it is to make students more aware. There was a long Crimson line before them. Hopefully some of them will take up the call and serve their country. There is no greater crucible of leadership.”
Well put, Capt. Mawn. It is Harvard’s loss, that by refusing to allow ROTC classes on campus for political reasons, the university cuts itself off from that arena of American public life.
Here are the initial ten, from the Harvard Vets site. I’ll add the other six later:
Brigadier General Hazard Stevens: Harvard Class of 1865, U.S. Volunteers (Army)
“for gallantry while leading the assault and capture of Ft. Hunger, VA)Major General Manning Ferguson Force: Harvard Class of 1845, U.S. Ohio Volunteers
“for bravery in Sherman’s 1864 campaign to capture and defend Leggett’s Hill”General Henry W. Lawton: Harvard Law Class of 1866, U.S. Army
“for heroic leadership during Sherman’s Georgia campaign in 1864″Colonel Leonard Wood: Harvard Medical School, Class of 1884, U.S. Army
“for carrying dispatches over 100 miles of hostile territory in the Indian campaigns in the 1880’s”Colonel Theodore Roosevelt: Harvard Class of 1880, U.S. Volunteer Mounted Cavalry
“for bravery in 1898 in leading the charge up and capturing San Juan Hill”Walter Newell Hill: Harvard Class of 1904
received the Medal of Honor while leading his Marine Company “with conspicuous skill and courage” in the Battle for Vera Cruz, Mexico, in April 1914.Captain George G. McMurtry: Harvard Class of 1899, U.S. Army National Guard
“As commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, 308th Infantry at Argonne Forest in 1918″Major Charles W. Whittlesly: Harvard Law Class of 1908, U.S. Army
“for refusing to surrender, and holding line when surrounded by Germans at Argonne in 1918″Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt: Harvard Class of 1909, U.S. Army
“for leadership while C.O. 4th Infantry, and senior officer in charge on Utah Beach on D-Day19442nd Lieutenant Sherrod E. Skinner: Harvard Class of 1951, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
“for conspicuous gallantry in the Korean War; killed when he covered a grenade to save his men”
And here are the six most recently identified, from the Mawn interview and Internet material:
Brig. Gen. Horace Porter at Chickamauga, Sept. 20, 1862, “at a critical moment when the lines were broken, rallied enough fugitives to hold the ground under heavy fire long enough to effect the escape of wagon trains and batteries.”
Col. Henry Huidekoper, commanding the 150th Pennsylvania at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, ”while engaged in repelling an attack of the enemy, [he] received a severe wound of the right arm, but instead of retiring remained at the front in command of the regiment.” He lost the arm.
Adm. Claud Ashton Jones for staying on his engines until the boilers exploded, and rescuing his firemen, aboard USS Memphis anchored off Santo Domingo in the midst of a hurricane Aug. 29, 1916.
Maj. Gen. Pierpont Morgan Hamilton, who is in fact related to the Pierponts, the Morgans and the Hamiltons, came ashore under heavy fire Nov. 8, 1942, in French Morrocco, volunteered to ride as translator with Col. Craw to persuade the Vichy French to surrender. Craw was killed in their approach and Hamilton was captured, but managed to persuade the French to give it up.
Staff Sgt. Robert C. Murray on June 7, 1970, after a soldier in his squad had trippd a grenade rigged as a boobytrap, “assessing the danger to the men of his squad, S/Sgt. Murray unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own safety, threw himself on the grenade absorbing the full and fatal impact of the explosion.”
While we’re on the subject, Valour IT is in the home stretch. A last push down to Veterans Day to raise money for laptops and specialized electronics for war wounded vets. Donate via Team Marines.
(Care to comment? Use the “contact” link to assure me you are a real human being interested in commenting on the topics at hand. Include your preferred screenname and temporary password. Lefty Kumbayah singers, moderate handwringers, meanspirited rightwingers all welcome. This is a free speech zone as long as you keep it clean and make an effort to be accurate.)
Topics: America, academia, courage, military
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:03 am on Tuesday, November 10, 2009
11 Responses to “Harvard Yard”
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November 10th, 2009 at 8:35 am
INFIDELS!
May your stomachs roast in the fires of Hell for all eternity! May a thousand enraged camel spiders take up residence in your sock drawer!
May the dreaded Western Maryland Eyeball Gnat torment you pitilessly as you struggle to complete your Honey Do list!
Your foolish donations cannot possibly do any good! Your soldiers and Marines are helpless victims of your ruling class - so stoopid that even the ensmartening words of geniuses like your John Foregainst Kerry cannot induce them to remove their tinfoil hats!
Everyone knows that Dick Cheney is plotting the violent overthrow of your government from a super secret hideout in an Undisclosed Location. When he gives the word your so-called ‘troops’ will rise up and violate their oaths of enlistment and their commissions.
This will be inconvenient, I tell you! At the very least, many of you will miss the next episode of Desperate Housewives - an event that will bring Western Civilization to its knees.
BAH! Your destruction is assured!
So blather on if it makes you feel better, Infidels.
November 10th, 2009 at 10:23 am
[...] takes a stroll through Hahvahd Yahd and finds a few surprises: It’s always easy to poke fun at the World’s Greatest University [...]
November 10th, 2009 at 10:33 am
[...] takes a stroll through Hahvahd Yahd and finds a few surprises: It’s always easy to poke fun at the World’s Greatest University [...]
November 10th, 2009 at 11:48 am
[...] takes a stroll through Hahvahd Yahd and finds a few surprises: It’s always easy to poke fun at the World’s Greatest University [...]
November 10th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I think you would find that VT, VMI, and The Citadel would be much higher up the list if not for the fact that they were on the other side during the war where many MOH’s were given out.
In fact, I’d bet that schools like Ole Miss and UNC would probably be well out ahead of Harvard if not for this.
One thing is for sure…. all of them will eventually catch up to and pass Harvard in this category.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Undoubtedly a factor, though on the Harvard list, the Civil War makes up about a third, 5-6 or so which still might put it ahead.
Anyway, as Mawn commented later, it’s not a competition. The number is significant basically because it is surprising, comes well into the modern era with some intense self-sacrifice, and has a bit of a man-bites-dog quality given policy and predominant sentiments on campus these days. Glad of an opportunity to call attention to them. One of the key goals of the Harvard vets who are involved in this effort, Mawn indicates, is to do something about Harvard’s involvement with the military going forward. Maybe inspire a few more undergrads with the fact that their liberal bastion has a history of service and sacrifice. Some admin and faculty, too.
I’m posting the initial 10. I’ll add the complete list later.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Speaking of the War of Northern Aggression, you’ll note that one of the recipients is a Union war criminal … Sherman’s March!
Also, note Leonard Wood. Indian Wars. Not PC. I guess that goes for Teddy Roosevelt, too.
November 10th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
[...] Jules Crittenden noted that at least 16 Harvard men received Medals of Honor and they “include President Theodore Roosevelt, for leading the charge up San Juan Hill under [...]
November 10th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Interesting - it would appear that two out of the first four (at least) had Forts named for them (Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Fort Lawton, WA (in Seattle). A third, Brigadier General Stevens, had a fort named after his father - Ft. Stevens, Oregon was apparently named after Issac Stevens, the first governor of the Washington Territory and also a general in the Civil War, where he was killed.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
One of our kids attended Davidson during the 90s. During the parents’ orientation, the officer in charge addressed the question of why have ROTC at Davidson. The answer was that Davidson was committed to educating men and women of character. And what kind of people would we want in leadership positions of our military?
Hope Harvard sees the light.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:02 am
I sent this link to my son who is Harvard all the way, BS/BA, MS, PhD. I think he’d dispute the implication that Harvard has stopped producing men (and women) of character, despite the current political climate. Harvard students can participate in MIT’s ROTC, in the meantime.