The Blue Guidon The Newsletter of Andover and the Military
180 Main Street Andover MA 01810-4161
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Andover & the Great War: The Early Years
Andover’s Military History Project is an ongoing effort to document the long history of service to the country by Andover students, faculty, alumni, and the school itself. If you are an alumnus or alumna who would like to contribute to this project by researching and writing, please contact Jenny Savino at jsavino@andover.edu. We would love to hear your story!
by David Chase
Andover Top General to Speak on Campus
Operation Red Wings Remembered
Gen. Barry McCaffrey ‘60 will be the evening’s speaker on Thursday, November 6, 2014, at Phillips Academy’s annual Veterans Day Dinner in Paresky Commons. PA’s highest ranking military graduate, McCaffrey served a distinguished career in the U.S. Army, as well as in the federal government as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) from 1996 to 2001. Following graduation from Andover, McCaffrey attended West Point before deploying to Vietnam, where he earned three Purple Heart medals and two Silver Star medals for valor. After serving in multiple levels of command and staff throughout the Army, McCaffrey commanded the 24th Infantry Division in the Gulf War during the famous Left Hook. McCaffrey’s final command was the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), with responsibility for all U.S. military activities in Central America and South America.
April 25, 2014
We hope you can join us for this special event. Registration information will be forthcoming this fall.
Spring 2014
Praise, tribute, and non sibi were the order of the day on a crisp, clear April evening when the Andover community gathered to honor the memory of Lt. Cmdr. Erik Kristensen ‘91. Kristensen was killed while leading a rescue operation for four members of U.S. Navy SEAL Team 10 as part of Operation Red Wings in the Hindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan, the events of which were chronicled in the film Lone Survivor. Erik’s parents, Adm. Edward and Mrs. Suzanne Kristensen, were on hand for a solemn service at Memorial Place, a Admiral Edward K. Kristensen festive dinner at Paresky Commons, and a screening of Lone Survivor at Cochran Chapel.
World War I began in June 1914. At the outset, President Wilson declared the United States neutral, and Wilson won reelection in 1916 cloaked in the mantle of peace, “He Kept Us Out of War” his campaign mantra. Despite widespread support for Wilson’s policy, a small but vocal contingent led by men associated with former presidents Taft and Roosevelt insisted America should prepare for war. Among the prime movers of the preparedness movement were Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood and former Secretary of War Henry Stimson, under whom Wood had served as army chief of staff from 1911 to 1913. Stimson was a member of Phillips Academy’s Class of 1883 and an Andover trustee since 1905. Stimson and Wood—in league with headmaster Al Stearns (Class of 1890)—shaped the military aspects of how the Academy addressed the First World War. Wood and Stimson made widely reported speeches calling for increased military spending and voluntary basic training of civilians. On November 12, 1914, Stimson brought Wood to Andover to address the student body; it was a required event. Wood addressed the necessity of preparation for war and the value of military training for civilians, including schoolboys. As The Phillipian reported, “Mr. Stimson then gave a brief talk urging that the fellows think over what [General] Wood had said, in order that they might put themselves in a position for doing their duty toward their country…” In February 1915, students were informed that, “in accordance with the recommendation of the Trustees,” Andover
would have a rifle club open to seniors and upper middlers. On February 24, The Phillipian editorialized on the merits of military training and announced that Stimson had obtained army rifles for the club. Almost every senior and upper joined the rifle club: 215 students organized into 21 squads. From 1914 through 1916, Headmaster Stearns brought speakers to campus who reported on conditions in Europe. History instructor Archibald Freeman lectured on the causes of the war. Chaplain Markham Stackpole described the “fighting spirit” in English prep schools. The Philomathean Society presented weekly discussions of current events. The Phillipian published letters from alumni and faculty involved in the war and editorialized on the need for students to become engaged in the wider world. In December 1914, students, trustees, and faculty purchased an ambulance to send to the front. Andover’s ambulance, number 127, was assigned to American volunteer ambulance drivers. It continued in service until 1917. Retired and beyond repair, its “127” tag was delivered to the Academy with thanks as “a priceless relic of war.” Students raised funds to send to the Red Cross, to Belgian and Polish relief organizations, and to support British prisoners in German hands. Andover boys responded generously to an appeal from Dr. Howard Beal (Class of 1890), serving in a hospital for Allied wounded in England. Beal’s patients—many victims of German poison gas attacks—would never fight again. They needed civilian clothing, including neckties. Seven hundred arrived at Beal’s hospital in the fall of 1915.
“When I come up from D.C., I normally bring snow, but today I bring sunshine,” said Cmdr. Robert Patrick ’88. “Erik demonstrated the profound impact one person can have on so many.” Head of School John Palfrey presented letters from Presidents George H.W. Bush ’42 and George W. Bush ’64. The Kristensens themselves then took the podium, reading excerpts from letters written by Erik’s classmates and SEAL teammates. Bayonet practice, 1918