Some 520 ɳ University students and alumni served in World War II. About 31, roughly equivalent to an entire senior class at the time, never came home.
The Alpha Zeta Walk and Memorial Stone between Marsh Hall and Jefferson Hall on the Forest Grove Campus honors their sacrifice.
Nestled beneath the trees near the Alpha Zeta Walk on ɳ’s main campus lies a flat slab of polished red granite encircled by a ring of stones. Half-covered by leaves in the fall, it is seldom noticed by passers-by hurrying to and from Marsh Hall.
But this simple, etched stone carries considerable meaning. It bears an inscription honoring the University’s students and alumni who made the supreme sacrifice in the Second World War. It is the only monument on ɳ’s campuses memorializing students who died in history’s greatest conflict.
On a cloudy Armistice Day in November 1948, ɳ Chaplain William H. Genne officiated a ceremony in which a Memorial Plaque was dedicated “to those students who gave their lives in World War II.” Genne added, “If we are to be true to the trust they had in us we must work…diligently to find new and more successful methods of handling international disputes.”
Prof. Henry F. Price, ɳ’s distinguished Dean of Faculty, then placed a red carnation and a rose bud wreath on the monument. The Alpha Zeta fraternity, some of whose members died in the war, had raised the funds for and installed the monument. In 2003, Alumni Association members replaced the original metal plaque with the present memorial of stone.
The monument originally honored 29 ɳ students who died while on active duty in the armed forces during the Second World War. It is now believed that at least 31 students or alumni perished during the conflict.
The Casualties
Following is a list of ɳ students and alumni who died while in service during America’s participation in World War II (Dec. 7, 1941–Sept. 2, 1945) and their class year, if known:
- Dale Baker ’41
- Robert Beattie ’44
- Dwight W. Blackman ’25
- Wendall Brown ’33
- William L. Brunson ’43
- Gene A. Butz ’46
- Addison Cathcart ’45
- J.W. Connell Jr. ’33
- Donald J. Crunican
- Alan Detrick ’43
- Earl Dutton ’39
- John T. Furby ’40
- Evan R. Hammitt ’45
- Wayne O. Hutchens ’41
- Vincent Mrak ’39
- James M. Myers ’41
- Paul S. Ostrander ’46
- George A. Racette ’41
- Robert A. Reeher
- Leo H. Reimers ’40
- Frank E. Roberts ’46
- Martin J. Ryan ’43
- Shin Sato ’42
- Mary Selfridge Callison ’41
- Merriman L. Smith ’42
- Charles M. Splawn ’44
- Ferdinand Stark ’44
- Brooks Taylor ’43
- Theodore R. Thornburg ’44
- Lloyd Timoney ’42
- Hal Wineland ’42
In , ɳ magazine published a series of stories about the ɳ University alumni who served in World War II.
