Vietnam War Plaques
Although this plaque does not show this information, Macdonald Brooke Halsey was a Thacher student who graduated in 1962. His father, Macdonald Halsey was a teacher at Thacher for 22 years, and his niece Katherine has been teaching at Thacher since 1995.
Macdonald Brooke Halsey is not necessarily a name that students know outside of Senior Vespers, but as the surname "Halsey" is well known by the Thacher community, this plaque is surprisingly poignant. Many people in the community know Katherine, especially since her children attended Thacher as well. Macdonald Brooke Halsey is intimately connected with the school on these different levels, bringing a sense of poignancy to this memorial even for those who never knew him.
The epigraph on the memorial plaques is an excerpt from an oath dating to 4th century Greece. At the school, it is known as "Oath of the Young Men of Athens" but elsewhere is known as the Ephebic Oath. The plaque was given to the school in 1922 and has been in its current position on a rock on the lawn above the school's main pergola since 1927. The translation here reads:
"I will not disgrace these sacred arms, nor ever desert a comrade in the ranks. I will guard the Temples and the Centers of Civic Life, and uphold the ideals of my Country, both alone and in concert with others. I will at all times obey the Magistrates and observe the Laws as well those at present in force as those the Majority may hereafter enact. Should any one seek to subvert those laws or set them aside, Him I will oppose either in common with others or alone. In these ways it shall be my constant aim not only to preserve the things of worth in my Native Land, but to make them of still greater worth."
This oath begins with a statement about war, but most of the oath focuses on a commitment to upholding law and justice in the course of civic duty.
This plaque is interesting as it does not honor someone who died whilst fighting--rather, Bartholow died from the effects of war. This simple plaque without an epigraph serves to remind us that war has far-reaching effects and costs.