Grinnell College honors those who served

To commemorate the College’s new Veterans Memorial and honor service members past and present, a Veterans Day Ceremony was held Nov. 11 at Herrick Chapel.

The ceremony included a joint color guard; musical selections by Rob Clower on bagpipes, Annika Schulz ’22 on trumpet, and Linda Bryant on the organ; a welcome from President Raynard S. Kington; and reflections on service from U.S. Army veteran William Ingram ’53. Rev. Orlan Mitchell ’55 gave the invocation and benediction.

A color guard presents the Colors to open the Veteran's Day Ceremony hosted at Grinnell College.
A color guard presents the flags of the United States, the State of Iowa, and each of the military branches.

The event was the culmination of a project to install a memorial bearing the names of students and alumni who have died in active duty while serving in one of the United States military branches since 1865. The new plaque joins an existing memorial honoring 11 students and alumni who were killed during the Civil War while fighting for the Union.

In the fall of 1945, a promise was made by Grinnell College President Samuel Stevens to the family of Jimmy Ley ’44, a student who lost his life during World War II. The promise was to include the names of all of the service people who lost their lives during the war. While that letter was lost for several decades, upon its re-discovery, Kington launched a project to expand recognition on campus for the student and alumni veterans who were casualties of war.

“The plaque honoring the sacrifices of the fallen should also serve as inspiration for current and future generations to work for peace in their own communities and for all humankind,” Kington said.

Veteran Bill Ingram '53 provided words of reflection during the Veteran's Day Ceremony held at Herrick Chapel.
U.S. Army veteran Willian Ingram ’53 provides words of reflection during the Veterans Day ceremony held at Herrick Chapel.

To remember and recognize the fallen soldiers, Jeff Blanchard, an associate professor of math and a U.S. Army veteran, read the names of the 71 Grinnell College students and alumni who appear on the new memorial. The names read are:

World War  I

Army

PVT Russell Macy
Class of 1917

PVT Ralph Volquardsen
Class of 1921

SGT Raymond Price
Class of 1909

PVT Anthony Staadt
Class of 1911

2nd LT David McCreath
Class of 1912

Fred McNulty
Class of 1916

1st SGT William Focht
Class of 1917

PVT Glenn Swan
Class of 1917

PVT Denzal Wagner
Class of 1918

CPL Carl McGlothlin
Class of 1919

PVT Harold Rayburn
Class of 1919

CPL Lloyd Gettys
Class of 1920

PVT Howell Lupton
Class of 1920

PVT Floyd Evans
Class of 1921

PVT James Lorenz
Class of 1921

PVT Marcus Blatt
Class of 1922

PVT Glenn Criss
Class of 1922

PVT Donald McFarland
Class of 1922

PVT Ora Perkins
Class of 1922

Navy

Training Warren Blossom
Class of 1908

SA Wayne Kauffman
Class of 1919

World War II

Air Corps

Capt Milton Blaul, Jr.
Class of 1939

2nd Lt James Milliken
Class of 1940

Aviation Cadet Robert Compton
Class of 1943

2nd LT William Stewart
Class of 1943

2nd LT Earl Vanderveer
Class of 1928

2nd LT Richard Brown
Class of 1936

World War II

Air Corps

1st LT John Kelsey
Class of 1936

Capt James Brereton
Class of 1938

1st LT John Osborn
Class of 1938

LTSG James Callaway
Class of 1939

Capt Paul Brown
Class of 1940

2nd LT Carl Moore
Class of 1940

1st LT Edward Stone
Class of 1941

2nd LT Edward Walters
Class of 1941

2nd LT Robert Benz
Class of 1942

1st LT Carl Blandin
Class of 1942

1st LT Charles Crowell
Class of 1942

2nd LT George Larsen
Class of 1942

2nd LT John Cortright, Jr.
Class of 1944

SSG James Ley
Class of 1944

2nd LT Carleton Marks
Class of 1944

2nd LT Arthur Brody
Class of 1945

Capt Leland Peebler
Class of 1945

SGT Robert Robertson
Class of 1946

Army

TEC 5 Raymond Larsen
Class of 1938

MAJ Clarence White
Class of 1927

TSGT John Dunham
Class of 1933

1st LT Russell Bonaguidi
Class of 1938

2nd LT William Pierce
Class of 1939

CPL John Shipley
Class of 1940

SGT James Mathews
Class of 1941

1st LT Eugene Shavitch
Class of 1941

1st LT Rex Wade
Class of 1941

PFC Robert Hirsch
Class of 1943

PVT Ralph Emmert
Class of 1945

World War II

Marine Corps

Capt Harry Barker
Class of 1941

SSGT Robert Huff
Class of 1944

2nd LT James Chaffee
Class of 1945

LTJG Russell Ruff
Class of 1931

LT Robert Bair
Class of 1936

LT Joseph Cranny
Class of 1939

ENS Charles Mansur
Class of 1939

LTJG Lester Robinson
Class of 1939

ENS Lorne Pelzer
Class of 1940

ENS William Vance
Class of 1943

ENS Robert Barrett
Class of 1945

Korean War

Marine Corps

2nd LT Willard Horn
Class of 1951

2nd LT David Theophilus
Class of 1951

Vietnam War

Navy

LCDR John Thoma
Class of 1955

CDR Vincent Monroe
Class of 1956