Memories of the Great War
Memorial
The effort to memorialize the Great War began even before the war ended. In the fall of 1916, when Cuthbert C. Buckle died, the school proposed to erect a tablet with his name in the chapel. Then, the May 1918 issue of the Chronicle published a letter from Rev. Ernest M. Stires, an Episcopal alumnus and the Rector of Saint Thomas’s Church, New York. In his letter, Stires suggested that the school should build a “beautiful and appropriate chapel, a building separate and complete in itself” not only as a “thanksgiving to God,” but also in grateful memory of our heroic alumni who [gave] their lives that mankind may be free and happy.” The Chronicle seconded the motion, and asked the student body to “think of some method by which we may show our gratitude to our alumni in service.”
While the construction of a chapel failed to pan out, the school made a marble tablet memorializing the fallen alumni and held a solemn unveiling ceremony on November 6th, 1920. The entire school was present at the ceremony, and 94 alumni returned to pay their tribute. Many important figures came to this event, including Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, Representative Walton Moore, Reverend Ernest M. Stires, and Henry C. Riely, a poet from Richmond. Following the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner, Rev. Stires started the ceremony with an invocation at Liggett Hall. Secretary of War Baker then gave a “beautiful and eloquent address” on the war, followed by Henry C. Riely, who read to the audience the poem he had written earlier for this occasion. The ceremony concluded with the unveiling of the tablet in the chapel.
The War to End All Wars?
In his address, Secretary of War Baker called the Great War “the most significant event in the history of mankind since the flood” to describe the magnitude of the conflict. He stressed to the students that “the responsibility of whether or not this country would witness a repetition of this disaster to civilization rested upon the shoulders of this generation.” Tragically, what Baker warned against--repetition of the cataclysm of war--was exactly what took place twenty years later. Woodrow Wilson’s idealist vision of the post-war future was, and--arguably--could never be attained, as wars continue to be waged across different continents today, a hundred years after the end of the Great War. Yet, perhaps Baker’s advice of continuous search for “new methods of preserving peace” can still be applied to this generation as well as those ensuing us; by examining the past, each of us can learn a few lessons that can be used in the future, as uncertain as it is.