375th Hall Highlights Veterans Day Commemoration Hall Matt Weiner ’89 and Squirrel Butter Perform BuildaBedProjectKicksOffSeasonofGiving

Headmaster Kerry Brennan with Captain Colin Murphy ’05, Lieutenant Thomas Buckley ’11, and Staff Officer Josh Rivers ’11

Veterans Day Commemoration Hall Honors Alumni Servicemen

On November 11, Headmaster Brennan welcomed students, faculty, staff, and three dozen guests—alumni, parents, grandparents—to Roxbury Latin’s annual Veterans Day Hall, which honors, as Mr. Brennan began, “those veterans who are with us, and also all those others who have served our country in peacetime and wartime over the past 250 years. Their commitment, loyalty, and service to our country, to the values for which it stands, and for each one of us ought never to be forgotten.” Several veteran alumni, parents, and former faculty members were in the audience and invited to stand to be recognized.

Following a welcome by Mr. Brennan—which included a brief history of Armistice Day, and of the RL alumni who committed their lives to military service—came a reading by senior Cameron Estrada titled “The Blue and the Gray,” by Francis Miles Finch. Rousing renditions of the songs America, I Vow to Thee My Country, and God Bless America—and a performance of Waitin’ for the Dawn of Peace by the Glee Club—rounded out a celebration that culminated in brief and powerful addresses by three RL alumni who serve, or have recently served, in the U.S. military, including Lieutenant Thomas Buckley ’11 (Navy), Captain Colin Murphy ’05 (Marine Corps), and Staff Officer Josh Rivers ’11 (Army). Each of these men shared with students the very different paths that led them to military service; stories of what their experience has been like, both state-side and abroad; and how their decision to serve has affected their lives in positive ways.

In this 375th anniversary year, Roxbury Latin is honoring its alumni, in particular, as examples of leadership, service, and excellence, representing a wide range of pursuits and passions. Throughout the year these “Men of RL” are visiting

campus and interacting with students in the form of Halls, performances, exhibits, panel discussions, and classroom visits. Thomas, Colin, and Josh played an important role in this series on November 11.

“Through these RL men we can draw a direct and impressive line to those WWII vets honored by the school several years ago, to four RL alumni casualties in the Civil War, and to RL’s most famous veteran, General Joseph Warren, Class of 1755, who lost his life at Bunker Hill. The inclination to serve our country is a natural extension of John Eliot’s admonition to serve as he said, ‘in Church and Commonwealth,’” said Headmaster Brennan. //

Thirty-seven Roxbury Latin students have been killed in service to this country:

American Revolution (1) Joseph Warren, Class of 1755

Civil War (4) David Brainard Greene, Class of 1847 Samuel Shelton Gould, Class of 1858 John Marshall Whitney, Class of 1859 John A. Johnston, Class of 1865

World War I (13) Phillips Brooks Robinson, Class of 1899 Hugh Charles Blanchard, Class of 1905 Stanton King Berry, Class of 1907 William Wallace Webber, Class of 1908 Raymond Earl Bennison, Class of 1909 William Bradford Turner, Class of 1911

*Congressional Medal of Honor, killed near Le Catelet (one of 124 recipients awarded for service in WWI) Wallace McIver Woody, Class of 1911 Ralph Frederick Fleming Brooks, Class of 1913 Eugene Galligan, Class of 1913 Francis William Riley, Class of 1913 Henry White Broughton Jr., Class of 1915

*Distinguished Service Cross for exceptional bravery in battle at St. Mihiel Francis Pratt Breck, Class of 1916 Nathan Cook Brackett, Class of 1917

In 1918 there were 250 alumni in national service.

World War II (19) Edmund Billings, Jr., Class of 1915 Robert Titus Phillips, Class of 1919 Ralph Barnes Hartmann, Class of 1927 Elliott Weston Clark, Class of 1930 Crosby Vanderveer Hale, Class of 1931 Charles Willard Reid, Class of 1933 Joseph Christopher Raffi, Jr., Class of 1933 George Leverett Barker, Class of 1934 Robert Edward Green, Class of 1935 Theodore Hoague, Jr., Class of 1935 Robert Irving Bedell, Class of 1936 Alexander Ogden Jones, Jr., Class of 1938 Richard Lindsay Nowlin, Class of 1938 Edwin Francis Benson, Class of 1939 Charles Henry Doell, Class of 1939 Henry Gardner Summers, Class of 1939 Warren Ashley Enman, Class of 1940 Andrew Williams Welch, Jr., Class of 1940 David Verity Currier, Class of 1942

During WWII there were 330 alumni in national service.