Upcoming EventsApril 12, 2013A Day to Honor CPT Thomas J. Hudner Jr. ’43, Bath, Maine (see cover story)

Veterans Day 2013CPT Seth Moulton ’97, USMC, and Mohammed Harba

To become a member of Andover and the Military: www.andover.edu/forms/AndoverMilitary/contactinfo.aspx Please encourage other Andover veterans to register.

To update your information: e-mail Jenny Savino at jsavino@andover.edu

Visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PAServes

180 Main StreetAndover MA 01810-4161

POSTAGE

The Newsletter of Andover and the Military Winter 2013

Join Us on April 12Celebrating the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) and its Namesake

by George S.K. Rider ’51

On May 7, 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the next Arleigh Burke–class destroyer would be named USS Thomas Hudner for Medal of Honor recipient CPT Thomas J. Hudner Jr. ’43. The medal was awarded by President Harry S. Truman in April 1951 for then LTJG Hudner’s valiant actions trying to save the life of his wingman, ENS Jesse L. Brown, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War.

The destroyer, now under construction at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, is scheduled for completion in 2017. On April 12, Tom will be honored at a luncheon at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath and provided a rare opportunity to meet members of the BIW construction crew. The event—to which Phillips Academy alumni, faculty, and students are invited—is being organized and underwritten by Marshall P. Cloyd ’58.

Tom is the oldest surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor, one of seven awarded for service in the Korean War, and the only one awarded to a Naval Aviator during that conflict.

His Medal of Honor Citation reads in part: “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in attempting to rescue a squadron mate forced down behind enemy lines, struck by enemy fire. LTJG Hudner risked his life to save the injured flier trapped alive in the burning wreckage. He put his plane down skillfully in a wheels-up landing on the rough mountainous terrain in the presence

of enemy troops. With his bare hands he packed the fuselage with snow to keep the flames away and struggled to pull the pilot free. Unsuccessful, he returned to his plane and requested a helicopter with axe and fire extinguisher. He then remained on the spot in the sub-freezing cold and danger from the enemy, and with the assistance of the rescue pilot, renewed a desperate, but unavailing battle against time, cold and flames. LTJG Thomas Hudner’s exceptionally valiant action and selfless devotion to a shipmate sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.”

The man Tom tried so courageously to save—Jesse Brown—was honored in 1973 with the commissioning of the Knox-class frigate USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089), the first ship named in honor of an African American. Tom, who retired soon after as captain after 27 years of service, joined Jesse’s widow Daisy and daughter Pamela for the commissioning and gave a dedication.

Now it’s Tom’s turn to be honored with a ship bearing his name. The centuries-old tradition—a triad that brings a ship to life—begins with the keel laying, followed by the christening, culminating with the commissioning, which marks the entrance of a man-of-war into the naval forces of our nation. The start of fabrication on the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) began November 15, 2012, at Bath Iron Works, with tentative dates for the keel laying in April 2015, the christening in March 2016, commissioning in early spring 2017, and deployment after the commissioning.

continued on page 2

The Blue Guidon

CPT Thomas J. Hudner Jr. ’43

Remembering Erik Kristensen ’91 1972–2005

LCDR Erik S. Kristensen, USN, was a Navy SEAL killed in action during Operation Red Wings in June 2005. Kristensen was one of 16 SEALs deployed in a Chinook to help rescue another SEAL team trapped in an intense gun battle with Taliban fighters while on a mission to kill or capture a high-ranking Taliban leader in eastern Afghanistan. The Chinook was downed by an enemy RPG, killing all on board, in what the Navy called its worst single day loss of life for Naval Special Warfare personnel since World War II. Kristensen, son of a Navy Rear Admiral, spent a postgraduate year at Andover before entering the U.S. Naval Academy.

Tell Us Your Story!Andover’s Military History Project is

an ongoing effort to document the long history of service to

the country by Andover students, faculty,

alumni, and the school itself. If you are an alumnus or alumna who would like to contribute to this

project by researching and writing, please

contact Jenny Savino at jsavino@andover.edu. We would love to hear

your story!

Campus News: Adopt-A-PlatoonSince 2005, Andover students—through the Community Service Office—have been involved in the Adopt-A-Platoon program, a national nonprofit that connects citizens with platoons deployed overseas. They have been writing letters and sending care packages to the 40-50 members of a platoon currently serving in Afghanistan. In late February, 20 students participated in a Skype conference with Army 1LT Tom Barron ’04. In a lively exchange, Barron, a rifle platoon leader in the 4th Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan in 2012, talked about his experiences at Andover and during his 6-month tour in Afghanistan. He is now a company executive officer in the same unit at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

Barron discussed his motivations for joining the military and challenges of past assignments. Students asked hard questions about the role of an Army officer, the role education plays in the life of a combat arms officer, and how Andover students can better serve deployed soldiers and the military community. Barron emphasized the importance of civic engagement—the need to understand and participate in the political process and foreign policies, and the importance of supporting veterans’ transitions back into their communities. Barron emphasized that military service always will need “strong, principled, thoughtful, and compassionate leaders, particularly in a profession that bears the risk of so much moral hazard.”

Phillips Academy has a long and proud history of national service, from the earliest days of the Republic to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But in the past several decades, much of this distinguished history has been forgotten. Today, that has changed. Andover and the Military is an affinity group of engaged alumni, faculty, and friends of the school—supported eagerly by many current students—that has begun to better document this distinguished history of service, reconnect with alumni veterans, and remind the campus and the wider Andover community of the importance of military service.

Andover and the Military’s executive committee has hosted three Veterans Day dinners, featuring CDR Robert Patrick ’88, USN; Medal of Honor recipient CPT Thomas Hudner ’43, USN; and most recently, LTJG William Cochran ’41, USN, who flew night fighters in World War II. For the past three years, this formal event and many other informal dinners and meetings with students have brought the important legacy of military service back to campus, and several students have been inspired to serve themselves.

I am pleased to announce that retired Army veteran Charlie Dean ’79 has agreed to serve as editor of this new, biannual newsletter, working with Navy veteran George S.K. Rider ’51, who will contribute articles and develop the history section of the Andover and the Military pages (www.andover.edu/service) on the school’s website. You are invited to participate in the work of the committee by submitting items for the newsletters and for our website. Personal reflections on your service can be e-mailed to military@andover.edu.

In the enduring spirit of non sibi, Andover sons and daughters have gone to war with the knowledge that privilege entails responsibility, and have demonstrated that “youth from every quarter” should do their part to defend the values for which America stands—and that Phillips Academy has always shared.

Sincerely,

Seth Moulton ’97 Chair, Andover and the Military Executive Committee

History of Honor:

(an excerpt from The History of Andover and the Military, by David Chase)

Although she got into various Ivy League schools, LCDR Laurie “Mocha” Coffey’s decision to attend the Naval Academy was based on her desire to commit her life to non sibi. She told the Phillipian: “I wanted to serve my country…. Serving others is a big message at Andover.” As a new upper, Coffey took on various challenges, especially in athletics. She was a leading score holder for the girls’ varsity basketball team, as well as a varsity rower for crew—leading both teams to New England Championships her upper year.

After the Naval Academy, Coffey trained as an F/A-18 pilot. Currently flying with Strike Fighter Squadron 37, she was stationed on CVN 65 Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier stationed in the Persian Gulf from May to November of 2005. By 2011, Coffey had flown more than 100 combat hours on 25 missions in Iraq. Coffey’s bravery allows her to stand out as a pilot, and in an interview with NCAA.org, she said, “Taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier is one of the most hazardous environments there is…. There is a possibility that something could go wrong in any airplane. Everyone has close calls, and several friends of mine have been killed the last few years. Our training is very thorough and repetitive so that the hazards become something that doesn’t faze you.”

Coffey’s competitive edge also has helped her succeed in a difficult field dominated by men. At Andover and the Naval Academy she had impressive athletic careers. On Andover’s basketball team for only two years, she scored

685 career points, which earned her the second highest career scoring record in PA basketball history. She went on to be a starting forward on the basketball team at Navy, leading the team to the school’s first-ever 30-win season and Patriot League Championship. She also rowed varsity crew at Navy and made the varsity eight as a freshman as well as U.S. National rowing teams. After graduation she was invited to train for the 2000 Olympic team and was in contention for a spot in Sydney until a dramatic Achilles rupture during tryouts for the WNBA Miami Sol team—one of three WNBA teams that invited her to try out—ended her hopes.

In the service, competition allowed her to progress and improve as a pilot. As she explained to NCAA.org, “Talking back and forth, shooting at each other—that is the neat part of the competitiveness from Division I basketball that I carry with me. I still compete on a daily basis with my peers…. Whether you are landing on or off an aircraft or shooting a free throw, you have to mentally visualize going through those actions. If you can’t, it’s not going to get any easier in the air going 800 mph.”

In April 1778, when the school opened with 13 students, Americans had been fighting for independence for three years. One of the original trustees, the Reverend Jonathan French (a veteran of the French & Indian War) served as a field medic at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.

In that same year, the school’s founder and the first schoolmaster—Samuel Phillips Jr. and Eliphalet Pearson—began manufacturing gunpowder for Washington’s troops at a site on the Shawsheen River.

Among the 13 pupils studying in Andover’s first rude schoolhouse in 1778 were at least four veterans. One, Levi Hutchins, served as a fifer with his father’s militia company in 1775, and then

enlisted and fought for a year as a private in the Continental Army at age 15.

Other Revolutionary War veterans came to Andover in the 1780s, among them Joseph Leland, a Minute Man from Grafton, Mass., who first fought at Lexington and continued in the Army until the Revolution was won in 1783. Leland was 27 when he matriculated. John Brown Cutting, Andover’s highest ranking Revolutionary War alumnus, had been Apothecary General of the Army from 1777 to 1780. In the 1790s, Cutting served as a U.S. special agent in London, successfully gaining release of American sailors impressed by the British.

Next issue: From the War of 1812 up to the Civil War

Spotlight on Laurie Coffey ’95USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) [continued]

A Note from the Chair

The Revolutionary War

Since 1991, Tom has lived in Concord, Massachusetts, with his wife, Georgea. They are the parents of four: Thomas

J. Hudner III, Kelly S. Fernandez, Stanford A. Smith, and Shannon S. Gustafson. After Andover, Tom graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1947. He followed his father, Thomas ’11, and uncle, Harold ’21, to Andover, and preceded his younger brothers James ’44, Richard ’46, and Philip ’54. He cocaptained the track team, played football and lacrosse, served as a senior class officer, and was a member of the student council and a house counselor.

Watch for updates on the birth and development of the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116), and please join us on

April 12 to celebrate this remarkable honor for Tom and for Andover!

2 3

Honoring

CPT Thomas J. Hudner Jr. ’43

THE BLUE GUIDONThe Newsletter of Andover and the Military

Vol. 1, Number 1

Published biannually by the Office of Academy Resources, Phillips Academy

EDITORCharlie Dean ’79

ASSOCIATE EDITORGeorge S.K. Rider ’51

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEESeth Moulton ’97, chair Christine Balling ’86 Tom Barron ’04 Tom Beaton ’73 Harrison Flynn ’75 Johnson Lightfoote ’69 Karl Andrew Novick ’07 Robert Patrick ’88 George Rider ’51 Dana Seero ’71

ALUMNI CURRENTLY ON ACTIVE DUTY*

Jake Bean ’08

Hanson Causbie ’08

Ben Kagan ’08

Walker Washburn ’08

Karl Novick ’07

Alex Ryan ’07

Lauren Johnson ’07

Young Fei ’06

Connor Flynn ’06

Jenn Bales ’04

Livy Coe ’04

Tom Barron ’04

Matt Fram ’04

Aaron Stroble ’04

Nicholas Ksiazek ’03

Catherine Reppert ’02

Marc Ward ’02

Corbin Butcher ’01

Aaron deVos ’01

Gilman Barndollar ’00

Carl Dietz ’00

Jarreau Jones ’00

Matthew Sullivan ’00

Hunter Washburn ’00

Matt Riehl ’99

Samantha Samora ’99

Grancis Santana ’99

Ali Ghaffari ’98

Philipp Risseeuw ’98

Luis Gonzalez ’97

Ian Stephenson ’96

Kenny Weiner ’96

Laurie Coffey ’95

Jesse Ehrenfeld ’96

Robert Crevey ’95

James Mok ’94

Ryan Shann ’93

Robert Bolton ’92

Kenneth Jambor ’91

John Orsmond ’91

David King ’90

Robert Patrick ’88

Julian Facer ’85

Jonathan Leete ’85

Graeme Henderson ’83

Alexander Cochran ’82

James Donnelly ’82

Ruben Alvero ’76

*We recognize this list may be incomplete and is based on data we have received from alumni updates. If you, or someone you know, is not on this list, please e-mail Jenny Savino at jsavino@andover.edu.

LCDR Laurie Coffey ’95

Phillips Academy has a long and proud history of national service, from the earliest days of the Republic to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But in the past several decades, much of this distinguished history has been forgotten. Today, that has changed. Andover and the Military is an affinity group of engaged alumni, faculty, and friends of the school—supported eagerly by many current students—that has begun to better document this distinguished history of service, reconnect with alumni veterans, and remind the campus and the wider Andover community of the importance of military service.

Andover and the Military’s executive committee has hosted three Veterans Day dinners, featuring CDR Robert Patrick ’88, USN; Medal of Honor recipient CPT Thomas Hudner ’43, USN; and most recently, LTJG William Cochran ’41, USN, who flew night fighters in World War II. For the past three years, this formal event and many other informal dinners and meetings with students have brought the important legacy of military service back to campus, and several students have been inspired to serve themselves.

I am pleased to announce that retired Army veteran Charlie Dean ’79 has agreed to serve as editor of this new, biannual newsletter, working with Navy veteran George S.K. Rider ’51, who will contribute articles and develop the history section of the Andover and the Military pages (www.andover.edu/service) on the school’s website. You are invited to participate in the work of the committee by submitting items for the newsletters and for our website. Personal reflections on your service can be e-mailed to military@andover.edu.

In the enduring spirit of non sibi, Andover sons and daughters have gone to war with the knowledge that privilege entails responsibility, and have demonstrated that “youth from every quarter” should do their part to defend the values for which America stands—and that Phillips Academy has always shared.

Sincerely,

Seth Moulton ’97 Chair, Andover and the Military Executive Committee

History of Honor:

(an excerpt from The History of Andover and the Military, by David Chase)

Although she got into various Ivy League schools, LCDR Laurie “Mocha” Coffey’s decision to attend the Naval Academy was based on her desire to commit her life to non sibi. She told the Phillipian: “I wanted to serve my country…. Serving others is a big message at Andover.” As a new upper, Coffey took on various challenges, especially in athletics. She was a leading score holder for the girls’ varsity basketball team, as well as a varsity rower for crew—leading both teams to New England Championships her upper year.

After the Naval Academy, Coffey trained as an F/A-18 pilot. Currently flying with Strike Fighter Squadron 37, she was stationed on CVN 65 Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier stationed in the Persian Gulf from May to November of 2005. By 2011, Coffey had flown more than 100 combat hours on 25 missions in Iraq. Coffey’s bravery allows her to stand out as a pilot, and in an interview with NCAA.org, she said, “Taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier is one of the most hazardous environments there is…. There is a possibility that something could go wrong in any airplane. Everyone has close calls, and several friends of mine have been killed the last few years. Our training is very thorough and repetitive so that the hazards become something that doesn’t faze you.”

Coffey’s competitive edge also has helped her succeed in a difficult field dominated by men. At Andover and the Naval Academy she had impressive athletic careers. On Andover’s basketball team for only two years, she scored

685 career points, which earned her the second highest career scoring record in PA basketball history. She went on to be a starting forward on the basketball team at Navy, leading the team to the school’s first-ever 30-win season and Patriot League Championship. She also rowed varsity crew at Navy and made the varsity eight as a freshman as well as U.S. National rowing teams. After graduation she was invited to train for the 2000 Olympic team and was in contention for a spot in Sydney until a dramatic Achilles rupture during tryouts for the WNBA Miami Sol team—one of three WNBA teams that invited her to try out—ended her hopes.

In the service, competition allowed her to progress and improve as a pilot. As she explained to NCAA.org, “Talking back and forth, shooting at each other—that is the neat part of the competitiveness from Division I basketball that I carry with me. I still compete on a daily basis with my peers…. Whether you are landing on or off an aircraft or shooting a free throw, you have to mentally visualize going through those actions. If you can’t, it’s not going to get any easier in the air going 800 mph.”

In April 1778, when the school opened with 13 students, Americans had been fighting for independence for three years. One of the original trustees, the Reverend Jonathan French (a veteran of the French & Indian War) served as a field medic at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.

In that same year, the school’s founder and the first schoolmaster—Samuel Phillips Jr. and Eliphalet Pearson—began manufacturing gunpowder for Washington’s troops at a site on the Shawsheen River.

Among the 13 pupils studying in Andover’s first rude schoolhouse in 1778 were at least four veterans. One, Levi Hutchins, served as a fifer with his father’s militia company in 1775, and then

enlisted and fought for a year as a private in the Continental Army at age 15.

Other Revolutionary War veterans came to Andover in the 1780s, among them Joseph Leland, a Minute Man from Grafton, Mass., who first fought at Lexington and continued in the Army until the Revolution was won in 1783. Leland was 27 when he matriculated. John Brown Cutting, Andover’s highest ranking Revolutionary War alumnus, had been Apothecary General of the Army from 1777 to 1780. In the 1790s, Cutting served as a U.S. special agent in London, successfully gaining release of American sailors impressed by the British.

Next issue: From the War of 1812 up to the Civil War

Spotlight on Laurie Coffey ’95USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) [continued]

A Note from the Chair

The Revolutionary War

Since 1991, Tom has lived in Concord, Massachusetts, with his wife, Georgea. They are the parents of four: Thomas

J. Hudner III, Kelly S. Fernandez, Stanford A. Smith, and Shannon S. Gustafson. After Andover, Tom graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1947. He followed his father, Thomas ’11, and uncle, Harold ’21, to Andover, and preceded his younger brothers James ’44, Richard ’46, and Philip ’54. He cocaptained the track team, played football and lacrosse, served as a senior class officer, and was a member of the student council and a house counselor.

Watch for updates on the birth and development of the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116), and please join us on

April 12 to celebrate this remarkable honor for Tom and for Andover!

2 3

Honoring

CPT Thomas J. Hudner Jr. ’43

THE BLUE GUIDONThe Newsletter of Andover and the Military

Vol. 1, Number 1

Published biannually by the Office of Academy Resources, Phillips Academy

EDITORCharlie Dean ’79

ASSOCIATE EDITORGeorge S.K. Rider ’51

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEESeth Moulton ’97, chair Christine Balling ’86 Tom Barron ’04 Tom Beaton ’73 Harrison Flynn ’75 Johnson Lightfoote ’69 Karl Andrew Novick ’07 Robert Patrick ’88 George Rider ’51 Dana Seero ’71

ALUMNI CURRENTLY ON ACTIVE DUTY*

Jake Bean ’08

Hanson Causbie ’08

Ben Kagan ’08

Walker Washburn ’08

Karl Novick ’07

Alex Ryan ’07

Lauren Johnson ’07

Young Fei ’06

Connor Flynn ’06

Jenn Bales ’04

Livy Coe ’04

Tom Barron ’04

Matt Fram ’04

Aaron Stroble ’04

Nicholas Ksiazek ’03

Catherine Reppert ’02

Marc Ward ’02

Corbin Butcher ’01

Aaron deVos ’01

Gilman Barndollar ’00

Carl Dietz ’00

Jarreau Jones ’00

Matthew Sullivan ’00

Hunter Washburn ’00

Matt Riehl ’99

Samantha Samora ’99

Grancis Santana ’99

Ali Ghaffari ’98

Philipp Risseeuw ’98

Luis Gonzalez ’97

Ian Stephenson ’96

Kenny Weiner ’96

Laurie Coffey ’95

Jesse Ehrenfeld ’96

Robert Crevey ’95

James Mok ’94

Ryan Shann ’93

Robert Bolton ’92

Kenneth Jambor ’91

John Orsmond ’91

David King ’90

Robert Patrick ’88

Julian Facer ’85

Jonathan Leete ’85

Graeme Henderson ’83

Alexander Cochran ’82

James Donnelly ’82

Ruben Alvero ’76

*We recognize this list may be incomplete and is based on data we have received from alumni updates. If you, or someone you know, is not on this list, please e-mail Jenny Savino at jsavino@andover.edu.

LCDR Laurie Coffey ’95

Upcoming EventsApril 12, 2013A Day to Honor CPT Thomas J. Hudner Jr. ’43, Bath, Maine (see cover story)

Veterans Day 2013CPT Seth Moulton ’97, USMC, and Mohammed Harba

To become a member of Andover and the Military: www.andover.edu/forms/AndoverMilitary/contactinfo.aspx Please encourage other Andover veterans to register.

To update your information: e-mail Jenny Savino at jsavino@andover.edu

Visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PAServes

180 Main StreetAndover MA 01810-4161

POSTAGE

The Newsletter of Andover and the Military Winter 2013

Join Us on April 12Celebrating the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) and its Namesake

by George S.K. Rider ’51

On May 7, 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the next Arleigh Burke–class destroyer would be named USS Thomas Hudner for Medal of Honor recipient CPT Thomas J. Hudner Jr. ’43. The medal was awarded by President Harry S. Truman in April 1951 for then LTJG Hudner’s valiant actions trying to save the life of his wingman, ENS Jesse L. Brown, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War.

The destroyer, now under construction at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, is scheduled for completion in 2017. On April 12, Tom will be honored at a luncheon at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath and provided a rare opportunity to meet members of the BIW construction crew. The event—to which Phillips Academy alumni, faculty, and students are invited—is being organized and underwritten by Marshall P. Cloyd ’58.

Tom is the oldest surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor, one of seven awarded for service in the Korean War, and the only one awarded to a Naval Aviator during that conflict.

His Medal of Honor Citation reads in part: “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in attempting to rescue a squadron mate forced down behind enemy lines, struck by enemy fire. LTJG Hudner risked his life to save the injured flier trapped alive in the burning wreckage. He put his plane down skillfully in a wheels-up landing on the rough mountainous terrain in the presence

of enemy troops. With his bare hands he packed the fuselage with snow to keep the flames away and struggled to pull the pilot free. Unsuccessful, he returned to his plane and requested a helicopter with axe and fire extinguisher. He then remained on the spot in the sub-freezing cold and danger from the enemy, and with the assistance of the rescue pilot, renewed a desperate, but unavailing battle against time, cold and flames. LTJG Thomas Hudner’s exceptionally valiant action and selfless devotion to a shipmate sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.”

The man Tom tried so courageously to save—Jesse Brown—was honored in 1973 with the commissioning of the Knox-class frigate USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089), the first ship named in honor of an African American. Tom, who retired soon after as captain after 27 years of service, joined Jesse’s widow Daisy and daughter Pamela for the commissioning and gave a dedication.

Now it’s Tom’s turn to be honored with a ship bearing his name. The centuries-old tradition—a triad that brings a ship to life—begins with the keel laying, followed by the christening, culminating with the commissioning, which marks the entrance of a man-of-war into the naval forces of our nation. The start of fabrication on the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) began November 15, 2012, at Bath Iron Works, with tentative dates for the keel laying in April 2015, the christening in March 2016, commissioning in early spring 2017, and deployment after the commissioning.

continued on page 2

The Blue Guidon

CPT Thomas J. Hudner Jr. ’43

Remembering Erik Kristensen ’91 1972–2005

LCDR Erik S. Kristensen, USN, was a Navy SEAL killed in action during Operation Red Wings in June 2005. Kristensen was one of 16 SEALs deployed in a Chinook to help rescue another SEAL team trapped in an intense gun battle with Taliban fighters while on a mission to kill or capture a high-ranking Taliban leader in eastern Afghanistan. The Chinook was downed by an enemy RPG, killing all on board, in what the Navy called its worst single day loss of life for Naval Special Warfare personnel since World War II. Kristensen, son of a Navy Rear Admiral, spent a postgraduate year at Andover before entering the U.S. Naval Academy.

Tell Us Your Story!Andover’s Military History Project is

an ongoing effort to document the long history of service to

the country by Andover students, faculty,

alumni, and the school itself. If you are an alumnus or alumna who would like to contribute to this

project by researching and writing, please

contact Jenny Savino at jsavino@andover.edu. We would love to hear

your story!

Campus News: Adopt-A-PlatoonSince 2005, Andover students—through the Community Service Office—have been involved in the Adopt-A-Platoon program, a national nonprofit that connects citizens with platoons deployed overseas. They have been writing letters and sending care packages to the 40-50 members of a platoon currently serving in Afghanistan. In late February, 20 students participated in a Skype conference with Army 1LT Tom Barron ’04. In a lively exchange, Barron, a rifle platoon leader in the 4th Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan in 2012, talked about his experiences at Andover and during his 6-month tour in Afghanistan. He is now a company executive officer in the same unit at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

Barron discussed his motivations for joining the military and challenges of past assignments. Students asked hard questions about the role of an Army officer, the role education plays in the life of a combat arms officer, and how Andover students can better serve deployed soldiers and the military community. Barron emphasized the importance of civic engagement—the need to understand and participate in the political process and foreign policies, and the importance of supporting veterans’ transitions back into their communities. Barron emphasized that military service always will need “strong, principled, thoughtful, and compassionate leaders, particularly in a profession that bears the risk of so much moral hazard.”