We will stand together this evening in a very special place - a part of this campus that
we regard with a certain respect -- a place of reverence and remembrance.
This is a
beautiful spot on our campus, but it is not the beautiful design of this memorial
wall that makes it such a special place. What sets this place apart are the
names of fifty-four Fork Union Military Academy cadets carved into the
cold stone face of the memorial wall.
The stones and
bricks were bought and paid for years ago. Those names on the wall represent a
debt we owe -- one that can never be repaid.
For the young men
memorialized on this wall it was their final sacrifice. They gave
up their opportunity to be husbands, fathers, grandfathers -- to be old men
surrounded by the love of their families. They sacrificed this in service to our
nation, in service to each one of us.
The veterans among us
today know full well that this was their final sacrifice, but it was not their
only sacrifice. Service to our nation in the armed forces is not a pain-free
experience for anyone. Service involves sacrifice, whether that service is
given in times of peace or in times of war.
At this very moment,
young men of Fork Union Military Academy are engaged in combat across the
globe, a war against the forces of terror and domination. Each generation is
called upon to defend freedom wherever it is threatened. Our young people today
continue to answer that call.
In the early days
of this school, when our nation was involved in a great World War, a young man
named Earle Gregory, a former Fork Union cadet, joined the army and went to
France. When his unit came under heavy machine gun fire, Sergeant Gregory said
"I will get them," and he advanced toward the enemy position. On his
own, armed only with a rifle and a mortar shell he used as a hand grenade,
Sergeant Gregory captured the machine gun nest, a howitzer, and 22 German
soldiers. He became the first Virginian to be awarded the Congressional Medal
of Honor. Earle Gregory survived that war, lived a full life among family and friends, and a plaque with his photo and biography hangs in our gallery of
Distinguished Alumni located in the Dining Hall, a place where it can be seen
by every cadet three times a day.
Another young
Fork Union cadet, whose name is carved into the wall, joined the army
during the Second World War. He served with the 506th Parachute Infantry
Regiment and distinguished himself during the D-Day invasion at Normandy. By
September of 1944 he was promoted to Second Lieutenant and participated in the
largest airborne invasion in history, Operation Market Garden, with over 30,000
airborne infantry landing in Holland to push back the German army. On September
17, 1944, the young officer was killed in action. Awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart
with Oak Leaf Cluster, Second Lieutenant George Owen Retan lies buried in Plot
A, Row 4, Grave 8 of the American Cemetery in the Netherlands. As the honor
company named in his memory, the Retan Rifles, fires their 21-gun salute this
evening, we will honor his service to our nation.
For every name on our memorial wall, there is a story. There is a life cut short, there is a family
grieving a loss, there is a sacrifice to be remembered.
That's all we can
do to pay our debt to our veterans, both the living and the lost. All we can do
is remember their service, respect their sacrifice, and renew our commitment to
serve our nation and defend our freedoms.
Today we pause to honor our soldiers - past, present, and future.
Your service is
appreciated. Your sacrifice is remembered.
Honored On Our Memorial Wall
George William Aldinger
James Davis Allen, III
Robert Breslin Anthony
William Lambert Arrington
Harry Boykin Bagnell
William Charles Batchelor, Jr.
Raymon C. Bearse, Jr.
John Edward Blakemore
Arthur Whitney Bollard
Lloyd Temple Boutchyard
Louis Walter Cherry, Jr.
Paul Frederick Cobb
Edward DeCarlo
Vincent Vargas Diaz, Jr.
Jonathan K. Dozier
Russell Kenneth Ellis
R.H. Flannagan, Jr.
John Blair FitzSimmonds
Richard Vivian Fowlkes, Jr.
W.D. Gibson
Troy Lorenzo Gregory
David Lee Grim
John Jerry Hale
Gerald Lee Harden
James Harold Johnson, Jr.
Francis Wendell Latham
Donald Nelson Leilich
Donald Boyd McSween
Ernest Leland Morgan
Stanley Harwood Mulford, Jr.
Irving Benjamin Myers
George Edmond Pannill
Henry Cecil Patterson, Jr.
Edwin Bruce Perkins
Charles Christian Pfordt, Jr.
William Croft Porter
William Sidway Price
William Witt Putney
Jack Keith Reed
George Owen Retan
Richard Winfred Riley
Charles Gordon Robinson
Lloyd Alvin Seward, Jr.
Walter Stanley Smith, Jr.
James Polk Spruill
Frank Pelham Stone
Eric D. Terhune
William Barry Thomas
Arthur M. Ward, Jr.
William Semple Weaver, Jr.
Thomas Austin Withers, Jr.
Marion Louis Wolfgang
Pickney Alonzo Wood
Thomas C.M. Zeugner
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