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Students Lead Effort to Build UW Medal of Honor Memorial |
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One year ago, when the UW Student Senate tabled a motion to honor Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, ’34, with a memorial recognizing his service during World War II and his Medal of Honor, students and the University suffered from a torrent of bad press and angry e-mails.
Lost in the uproar, according to ASUW President Cullen White, was the reason behind the blocked resolution. “People wanted it to be more inclusive. Any memorial should name all the Medal of Honor recipients who came to the UW,” he explains.
Last April the Student Senate passed a resolution urging the creation of such a memorial and now ASUW leaders are launching a $100,000 fund drive to make it happen.
“It is very important for us to honor these Medal of Honor recipients,” says White. Not only is it a benefit to the University community, he says, but it will heal wounds with veterans and other organizations beyond campus.
The memorial committee has already chosen a site near the UW’s World War II Memorial, at the bottom of the steps between Odegaard Library and Kane Hall. The preliminary design concept shows stone pillars representing each medal winner with portions of their citations as text.
During the fund-raising effort, the UW will be the first university in the nation to host “Visions of Valor,” a traveling exhibit on the Medal of Honor and its recipients. The free exhibit will be in the lobby of the Allen Library from April 3–26.
For more information on the UW memorial, visit uwfoundation.org and search for “Medal of Honor.” The six UW alumni/attendees who have won the nation’s highest military honor are:
Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, ’34
The Marines’ WWII ace pilot, Boyington downed 28 enemy planes before being captured by the Japanese and spending the rest of the conflict in a prisoner of war camp.
Deming Bronson, ’15
This UW graduate received a Medal of Honor during World War I for capturing enemy prisoners near Eclisfontaine, France, in 1918. He was wounded by a hand grenade and a bullet and still led his unit to capture enemy positions.
Robert Galer, ’40
As a Marine Corps pilot, he repeatedly engaged Japanese aerial forces in combat, individually shooting down 11 enemy bomber and fighter aircraft over a period of 29 days. Galer was himself shot down four times during his service in World War II and Korea.
John D. “Bud” Hawk, ’52
Army Sgt. Hawk was wounded on Aug. 20, 1944, in France when the German army was trying to escape its encirclement following the Normandy invasion. Hawk was largely responsible for crushing two attempts by the enemy to escape and for taking more than 500 prisoners.
Robert Leisy, ’68
Leisy served as a 2nd Lt. in the Vietnam War and was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. During an engagement in Phuoc Long Province, Leisy’s unit was ambushed by a far larger force of North Vietnamese soldiers. He shielded his men from a rocket grenade attack and died of the wounds on Dec. 2, 1969.
William Nakamura, ’46x
Forced to leave the UW because of the internment of Japanese Americans in 1942, Nakamura enlisted in the famous 442nd Regiment Combat Team, the most decorated military unit in U.S. history. He died in Italy on the Fourth of July, 1944, while providing cover for his pinned-down platoon. |
