Three of Saturday's Commencement Forums, one of them led by Sen. John H. Chafee, will be dedicated to Brown alumni who died in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
The Forums are sponsored by the Brown Continuing College and are part of a Commencement Weekend program during which the University will announce plans to construct an additional memorial near Soldiers Arch in honor of alumni who were killed in action in those three wars. The events are also part of a multiyear observance of the end of World War II, the subject of several forum discussions and an art exhibition during the past few commencements.
Saturday's three forums will be held in Sayles Hall. They are:
9:30 a.m. - "A Challenge for Democracy: A Senior Oration Remembered." The speaker will be former Ambassador Nathaniel Davis '46, Hon. '71.
10:45 a.m. - "Korea: The Coldest War," led by Senator Chafee.
2:15 p.m. - "Ward 35: Conversations about Vietnam," a discussion with Alan Vaskas '67 and Thomas Coakley '68, led by Robert Reichley, secretary of the University.
`A Senior Oration Remembered'
Senior orations have been part of Brown since its first Commencement in 1769, when the University began the custom of having two graduating students speak to their classmates instead an outside speaker on the College Green. The orations have attracted media attention over the years, but none more than Nathanial Davis' 1944 remarks called"A War Ideal."
Said Davis at the end of his senior oration:
"Not soon again will America's force be doubted. But some day those arms will grow rusty and we must have a force of ideals, not consumed, but strengthened. For we should not have a small objective for such a big war, and there is a big objective: to build a free world for free men."
Seated in the historic First Baptist Meeting House along with other honorary degree recipients on that day was Arthur H. Sulzberger of the New York Times. On July 16, 1944, Davis' oration appeared in full in the New York Times Magazine under the title: "Ideals to Fight For."
Davis will talk about his challenge to the country ("the war for America's freedom is not enough"), the impact of the returning servicemen at this time 50 years ago, and other factors. He brings to the subject his long experience in the foreign service. After graduation from Brown, the Fletcher School at Tufts and service in the Navy, Davis held foreign service posts in Czechoslovakia, Italy, Moscow and was U.S. ambassador to Guatamala, Chile and Switzerland. He has received many civilian awards. Among his publications are two books: "A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy" and "The Last Two Years of Salvadore Allende." He is now professor humanities at Harvey Mudd College.
`The Coldest War'
Senator Chafee left Yale to enlist in the Marine Corps and served in the original invasion of Guadacanal. He was recalled to duty in 1951 and commanded a rifle company in Korea. James Brady's book, "A Memoir of Korea: The Coldest War," is dedicated to those who fought in Korea, especially the First Marine Division and Dog Company, which Chafee commanded. Writes Brady:
"If this book has a hero, it is Capt. John H. Chafee."
In his forum, Chafee will discuss the history of the Korean conflict and his experiences there, along with comments about Korea's future.
After Korea, Chafee was elected as a state legislator and three-time governor of Rhode Island - chosen for that office with the largest margin of votes in the state's history. He was appointed Secretary of the Navy in 1969 and served for nearly four years. In 1976 he became the only Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island in 67 years and is now serving his fourth term.
`Conversations about Vietnam'
Vaskas and Coakley were severely wounded in Vietnam, and although they did not know each other at Brown, they were sent to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., where, by chance, they were assigned to adjacent beds in Ward 35. Their experiences in Vietnam and their recovery at Walter Reed became the subject of a Brown Alumni Monthly article, "Ward 35," written by Reichley in 1969, when he was then its editor. It was there that Coakley met his future wife, Nellie, who had been a nurse in Vietnam and returned to the United States to become the chief nurse in Ward 35.
For Vaskas and Coakley, their experiences at Brown became the center of gravity as they recovered from their serious wounds. A bond was formed between the two that has lasted ever since, as Vaskas married and formed his own law firm near Philadelphia, and Nellie and Tom Coakley were married and he became an administrator at St. Lawrence University. In their Saturday forum, they will discuss the impact of Vietnam on their lives and that of others who served there.