 | Grant Esterling and Conner Fay of the Class of 1951 helped lay the wreath at the cenotaph of the Yale Alumni War Memorial. |
The University paid tribute to all the Yale graduates who have served their country over the past three centuries -- and to one alumnus in particular -- at a Veterans Day program on Nov. 11.
Members of the Yale College Class of 1951 gathered at the ceremony to honor their classmate John T. Downey as he received the Nathan Hale Award in recognition of his service to the nation and the Connecticut judicial system. The program also included a formal rededication of the recently renovated Hewitt Quadrangle, site of the Yale Alumni War Memorial, and the 97-year-old Ledyard Flagstaff nearby. Among those in attendance were Yale employees who served in the armed forces and current ROTC students.
"In gathering," he said, "we pause to remember that our fortunate lives owe much to the sacrifice of those who have fought to preserve our freedom. Our gathering is a small reminder that freedom itself is never free from challenge by those who would deny it to others."
Noting that Yale's founders viewed preparing students for public service as a vital part of their education, Levin said, "It is especially apt to recognize sacrifice in the nation's service here at Yale. ... Here education has always meant more than the training of the intellect alone. Here we inculcate in students not mere facts, not merely the 'furniture of the mind' noted by President [Jeremiah] Day in 1828, but also those 'intangibles' developed through living and working in a highly engaged community, a community that confronts students with choices about how to live, requires them to discover their own values and shapes their character."
Levin pointed to alumnus Downey as someone "whose story helps us to understand the ordeal, the patriotism, the humility and the contribution of all who have served this country." Captured in northeast China while serving on a mission for the Central Intelligence Agency during the Korean War, Downey was held as a prisoner for over 20 years. After his release, he earned a law degree at Harvard University and went on to serve as Superior Court judge in New Haven for many years.
"Jack Downey has always insisted that his risk-taking efforts over northeast China were the efforts of a man merely doing his duty," said Levin. "He has preferred to give the impression that his response to capture, trial, condemnation and incarceration in alien territory, under difficult and isolating circumstances, would have been the response of any American.
"Maybe he is right. I wish it were so. But I'm not so sure," added the president.
"When honored, he deflects applause with self-deprecation and humor. He never speaks with bitterness or recrimination towards his captors. He never complains about his lost years. He has never sought special privilege or advantage. And he has never assumed that in giving so much to his country, he deserved anything in return," said Levin. "Instead, he has lived as if his experience in captivity gave him a special gift of sympathy that was meant to be put in the service of others."
Levin told the audience, "It is this soul, this spirit capable of compassion, sacrifice and endurance, that we honor in all those who have answered the call to service -- and most especially in the man we have chosen to represent our nation's veterans on this special day."
To view a video of the ceremony, click here.
T H I S
Yale veterans' sacrifices in service
to their country honored
John T. ("Jack") Downey '51 B.A. received the Nathan Hale Award from President Richard C. Levin.
President Richard C. Levin told those assembled: "Our ceremony today corresponds to ceremonies held in Washington, and around this country, linking Americans in a powerful chain of remembrance.
The 93-year-old Ledyard Flagstaff was repainted, restored and moved closer to the war memorial during the recent renovation of Hewitt Quadrangle.
He added: "Many of you on this quadrangle today have served our country with distinction. The rest of us can only imagine the ordeals you veterans have faced, or those you cadets may face, or what the Yale veterans, remembered here by the Alumni War Memorial and the tablets of the rotunda, had to confront in their own dark nights of the soul."
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