Jesuit Journal
April 2010
Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas
Men for Others, Men for Country Jesuit Journal 1
Contents & Acknowledgements A Review of Maus.........................................................................................................................Mike Flanagan ´12 Men for Others, Men for Country..........................................................................................Jamie Fletcher ´10 Isaac Escamilla ´10 Robert Uhl ´11 A Speech for Prayer Service....................................................................................Reid Plauche ´10 At the Table..............................................................................................................Jamie Fletcher ´10 A Poem.....................................................................................................................Alex Petsos ´12
Publisher.......................Student Council Big Cheese.....................Jamie Fletcher ´10 Little Casino..................Robert Uhl ´11 Layout & Design........... Jamie Fletcher ´10
Of course we took a long time! It’s fitting of high school upper-classmen to take their time on things, but I believe that only made this issue that much greater. On the fron cover are the senior photos Having you read this is a tremendous weight off my shoulders since this project has been underway since last semester. I hope you enjoy all the contents of the issue! Jamie Fletcher
We’d like to thank all of the Alumni/Veterans who contributed so wholeheartedly and truthfully to the letters the Jesuit Journal sent them. And a special thanks to Jesuit archivest Mrs. Row who helped us gather the photos for our cover, a collection of alumni who responded to our surveys.
After a long time on the clock and a few scrapped essays, we finally found the right one, and it came together beautifully. This issue took a lot of time and effort, but it is a small token of our appretiation for our servicemen. Thanks for all that you do! Robert Uhl
Robert Uhl ´11 Art Contributors...........Ben Galichia ´10 Ethan Leigh ´10 Daniel Merrill ´10 Alec Miramontes ´10 Moderator.....................Dr. Michael Degen
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Maus: A Survivors Tale
by Art Spiegelman A review by Mike Flanagan ‘12 In Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel Maus, he writes about his father’s life during the Holocaust by drawing himself recording his father’s dictation, creating a work about the Holocaust that reveals more than just the terrible crimes that occurred in the ghettos and concentration camps. By juxtaposing images of pre-Holocaust, Holocaust and post-Holocaust, Spiegelman illustrates how the Holocaust truly changed people, forming them into almost apathetic beings. These changes are embodied by minor and major characters: Janina, the Spiegelman’s nurse, and Art’s father, Vladek. Janina’s false promises to always be loving and caring exemplify the shift towards apathy the Holocaust caused. The changes in Janina, from loving and caring, to completely selfish and survival minded, is best exemplified by her actions before and during World War II. For example, when Anja, Art’s mother, remarks that “when it comes to Jews, the Poles don’t need much stirring up!” (I:37) Janina, who thinks of the Spiegelman’s “as part of [her] own family,”(I:37) takes much offense at this statement, questioning “Mrs. Spiegelman, how can you say such a thing?”(I:37) This image of a loving Janina before the war pledging her dedication and love for the Spiegelmans, and even holding the Spiegelman’s young child Richieu on her knee, contrasts the images later in the war, when the Spieglemans sneak back to their homes in Sosnowiec, Poland. For example, upon finding Janina’s house, Vladek and Anja knock on her door in an attempt to find refuge, since Janina had “always offered she would help us.”(I:136) After proclaiming her love for the Spiegelmans so strongly as to her include them in her own family, Janina screams “you’ll bring trouble! Go away quickly!”(I:136) when her “family” tries to find the help that was promised them. This image, transcribed verbatim from Vladek into Maus shows how the Holocaust transformed people, from someone feeling such love for another as to include them in their own family, to slamming a door in those same honorary family members’ faces when they are being pursued by German soldiers. The power of the Holocaust to do more than just exterminate almost an entire race, but to create apathetic civilians who turned their backs on so many helpless Jews, and even turned them in for rewards, manifests itself in this image of Janina.The Holocaust’s power to make people apathetic to things not as powerful as the Holocaust, affects themselves and all those around them, as shown through the daily interactions of Vladek Spiegelman and his son Art, and the juxtapositions of Vladek during the Holocaust and after it. The best example of this is illustrated in the first two pages of the graphic novel when Art, as a child, is rollerskating with some friends, and after his skate breaks his friends call him a rotten egg. When he goes to his father crying, mentioning his friends, Vladek stops what he is doing, questioning, “Friends? Lock them together in a room with no food for a week, THEN you could see what it is, friends!” (I:6) In the opening pages of the novel, we get some kind of understanding of Vladek’s caustic personality, and the harsh childhood Art must have had. By denying the truth of his son’s friendships, Vladek unknowingly reveals the power the Holocaust has over him, forcing him to always compare his daily actions to those during the Holocaust. Also, the effects of the Holocaust live on through Art, experiencing its aftershocks through the ways his father treated him. In fact, Vladek’s changes are emphasized by Art’s juxtaposition of his father, during and after the war. For example, just after introducing his father in the way that he compared Art’s friends to the ones he was forced to make in Auschwitz, Art juxtaposes the first image of Vladek with an entire chapter dedicated to his father’s personal life in Poland before the war, a life that, according to Vladek, “has nothing to do with Hitler, with the Holocaust!”(I:23). Art uses these images of Vladek, such as his marriage to Anja, and their peaceful time in a Sanitarium where Vladek “helped always to calm her down,” and ”told her many jokes and stories to keep her busy”(I:35) , to illustrate the loving and caring qualities present in Vladek before the war, and to juxtapose those qualities with the Vladek of post-Holocaust. This juxtaposition, only possible through the frames and speech bubbles adorning the black and white pages of graphic novels, reveals the power of the Holocaust to change people, changing them from loving, caring individuals into more apathetic, unloving people.
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Men For Others, Men For Country
By the Jesuit Journal Staff
to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.” For Jesuit alums in the military, MacArthur’s words must resonate with their experiences in the halls of Jesuit College Preparatory School, the hallways where we now walk, receiving from our teachers the same foundation of service and virtue marked by some of the greatest men who have protected our country. Over the past few months, the Jesuit Journal has solicited stories from our military alums. These narratives reveal clearly how the “Profile of the Grad at Graduation” provided the foundation for their success. Our goal is to demonstrate how the narratives of our alums in the military reflect each of the six traits of the profile. And while many of our questions sought stories of the gravity of a commitment to our national defense, we also received and will share some of the humorous stories about military life, stories that highlight the humanity within the very demanding work of protecting the United States of America.
He stands at the ready as crowds of screaming, motivated East Berliners flock to a small, turnstile-like identity checkpoint that separates the city of Berlin into East and West. Bodies coalesce on the undersized entryway, Germans demanding their freedom. A troop of East German guards immediately backs away from the imposing wall of bodies, turning frantically to each other in search of advice. Instantly, a flood of people pour through the small opening, like sand in an hourglass, bottlenecking as it reaches the transition point. Shouts of joy and happiness ring through the air as East Berliners reunite with West Berliners. This pivotal scene in 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall, signaled the imminent demise of Soviet tyranny. And that man, who witnessed one of the most significant events in modern history, walked the very same halls we walk each day. His name is Lt. John M. Greathouse, Jesuit class of 1964. John M. Greathouse and the many other Jesuit alumni who have served in the military are part of an organization established in 1776 by patriotic men committed to freedom. Two hundred thirty-four years later, through wars, battles, and skirmishes, the
Intellectually Competent
At graduation, the Jesuit student will have experienced a curriculum designed to open him to the richness of his own intellect, as well as to the world of nature and man. From the moment we enter the doors at Jesuit, the highest quality of teachers motivate us to achieve success in the classroom, adults committed to demonstrating intellectual competence in the sciences and humanities, creating classroom opportunities to develop and practice the skills of the mind. These same goals are highly valued by our military academies, places where being intellectually competent is not a goal, but a necessary requirement for ensuring the safety of our country. Our military alums recognize how Jesuit provides the foundation
United States military maintains its focus on a set of core values, articulated in 1962 by General Douglas MacArthur: “Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems
Photo: Danny Mehl at Fenway Park
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for success in college and particularly in the theater of war. Danny Mehl (´03 ), believes that “most don’t realize that being an officer can be intellectually demanding. You are constantly taking courses, getting training, and learning a new job every few years.” For Mehl, “Jesuit got him used to that” continued pursuit of intellectual growth. Another of our Jesuit brothers, John M. Greathouse, graduated from West Point in 1969 and immediately saw the benefits of his Jesuit education. He cites Jesuit as responsible for his “breadth of knowledge which encouraged intellectual curiosity that helped [him] be competitive and enjoy [his] career,” even remarking how his “humanities-heavy” Jesuit education “overshadowed the more math and science-oriented West Point curriculum.” More concretely, Greathouse saw the effects of his Jesuit career as he studied the German language. When he was at Jesuit, one language, Latin, was required all four years. Initially disappointed that he could not take a modern language, he decided to take German in college. Much to his delight, he realized that the grammati-
“One weekend, a colleague of mine who was a company commander, received a call from the duty sergeant informing him that one of the soldiers was out on a window ledge in the barracks threatening to jump. My friend raced over to the barracks to find that the soldier was indeed out on a ledge– on the first floor, about four feet from the ground.” – John M. Greathouse
cal structure was almost identical to Latin. This allowed him to take advanced German and succeed in his appointments in Germany, his Jesuit education transporting him across the world and helping him advance his career. Greathouse is one of many grads who report how their Jesuit education directly influenced their ability to defend our country, men responsible for continued protection and defense.
Physically Fit
At graduation,
the Jesuit student has come to value the ideal of a sound mind in a sound body. Boot Camp. For both civilian and solider alike, these words instill images of pain, suffering, fear, and extreme physical labor. Although a grueling process, Boot Camp is a necessary requirement for entering into the military, one that every soldier has completed. As a soldier in the United States armed forces, one must complete both the Combat Fitness Test and the Physical Fitness Test, which include a series of distance runs, sprints, weight lifting, agility tests, sit-ups, push-ups and maneuvering under fire. Once one has completed these tasks, soldiers, are surely, “physically fit” not only in the eyes of the military, but by any sane human being. While many enter this rigorous training for
“I was the physician for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on their USO tour to our base. The cheerleaders always hug the few active duty troops there to greet them as they exit the plane. As I greeted them on the airstrip, my wedding ring clanked against the earring of one of the cheerleaders. As my airman laughed, she immediately asked me how long I had been married and any illusions of grandeur vanished.” – Maj. Andrew Minigutti (´ 86)
Artwork: Ethan Leigh ’10
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“We used to mark the left forward tire before takeoff with six equal pie-shaped segments each marked with one of the crew positions (pilot, co-pilot, radar navigator, navigator, electronic warfare officer, and gunner). When the plane was finally parked at the end of the mission, the sector that was on the bottom paid for beers for the crew. I secretly made a sharing agreement with the airplane crew chief to always chock the plane at the end of the mission with the EWO at the bottom. This went on for several months with the EWO in disbelief he could be so unlucky. It was priceless to see his reaction when he finally figured it out.” – James D. Harford
the first time, some enter already “physically fit,” a product of Jesuit’s commitment to train the body as well as the mind. A student at Jesuit might not see this goal as demanding as those requirements set by the military, but his experience at Jesuit provides a valuable introduction to the grave importance a military career places on the body’s agility. Our sports and athletic clubs not only encourage brotherhood, but also teach us valuable lessons on maintaining a healthy life, lessons which remain with us throughout our lives. “Participating in athletics (soccer, cheerleading)” Maj. Richard Hall (’85) recalls, translates into real life exercises, like engaging in paratrooper exercises with his squadron: “rushing out the door on the back of the guy in front of you…suddenly there’s no noise but the roar of plane engines and the wind flapping your uniform…the sudden jerk that feels like someone has pulled your boots up through your ears…landing on the drop zone.” Had he not had an open mind and a willing heart to become physically fit, this amazing opportunity might not have appeared as paratrooper school qualifies its candidates with more strict requirements. While that extra lap or that extra lift might seem unbearable and unachievable now, the work we put in today will pay off tomorrow in a much greater and much more thrilling way than we could have imagined.
Open to Growth
At graduation, the Jesuit student has come to see that his progress toward adulthood lies primarily in his own hands. When freshmen students enter Jesuit on their first day of school, the inauguration of their Jesuit careers, they have a vague view of what they want to accomplish during their years at Jesuit, a vague notion of whom they want to become by senior year. He may never become that person initially envisioned, which is not a bad thing because the multiple experiences of Jesuit invite him to grow in ways he never imagines. The Jesuit student’s views will continually shift, a metamorphosis that goes on among the young men at the school, forces directing them down a path where students learn how to think critically, justly, and act not only with confidence but with a sense of morality. In the United States Air Force, Patrick Harrison(´96) describes the ability to be open to growth—to recognize how changing circumstances demand flexible thinking. After successfully landing two aircraft that had supported ambushed U.S. ground troops in Iraq, he recalls how the experience brought to him new insight: “It was pitch dark, the only light you could see came from the off-shore oil rigs and the fluorescent green glow of the ship’s lights in the water. It was the first time I felt like I was a part of something great.” It wasn’t a planned moment, dictated by orders, but Harrison found himself in a serene experience, growing as individual, becoming a part
“Every year we play Army football, the ArmyNavy game. The week leading up to the game is called ‘Army Week.’ It is essentially a free-for-all week of shenanigans, mostly playing pranks on the upper class. During freshman year, my roommate and I decided to shaving cream bomb (you puncture a hole in a shaving cream can) an upperclassman who had been hard on us all semester. The problem was, his roommate was our starting quarterback; therefore, we spent the next three hours cleaning up the room and apologizing.” Midshipman Scott Jones (´06)
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of a team of people whose calling was beyond that of his own. That is the growth the military gives its soldiers, the same growth found at Jesuit College Prep. John Hohenshelt, too, recognized the importance of being open to growth. He recalls how he “planned to be a tank driver” until the “Judge Advocate General branch learned of his law degree and made him an Army lawyer.” His original plan to be a tank man altered when the army asked him to fulfill a different need. His Jesuit education gave him the “confidence in his abilities to make a decision…eliminating any fears he had of the world.” The military, like Jesuit, provides opportunities to adapt, to allow larger forces of transformation to guide individual choices, to reveal capabilities and opportunities initially not
seen. Nick Valladarez (’04) emphasizes how “a career in the military presents you with numerous opportunities to grow as an individual, to grow as a leader.” Our alums have entered the military and because of their willingness to adapt have become even-greater men, greater soldiers, and greater leaders, anchored in the legacy of Jesuit’s pursuit of openness to growth.
Committed to Social Justice
At graduation, the Jesuit student has begun to examine himself and his world in terms of the justice which a living faith requires. Our alums hold dear to the Jesuit obligation, a commitment to justice, one that permeates through the entire military. Every man in uniform joins for different reasons, yet all of them have the opportunity, as Maj. Richard Hall says to “find oneself,” to be able to utilize their own abilities for the betterment of others. Jesuit and the United States Armed Forces are dedicated to selfless service, a belief that Nick Valladarez(’04) encapsulates exquisitely, “The steeled will of one man truly has the potential to change the world, though it may only be in the eyes of his shipmates.” These soldiers are more than just companies of men in uniforms, they are what Father Pedro Arrupe has called all Jesuit men and students to be, soldiers for God, men who Scott Jones (´06) states “work for justice and peace.” Serving in the United States military is no easy task; it does not spare anyone from shocking scenes of agony and devastation, the agonies and injustices of the world will be witnessed firsthand. However, despite the sometimes necessary agonies of war, soldiers possess a human soul. They know as General Douglas MacArthur says in Duty, Honor, Country, “On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” But this is why American soldiers are the best, even though they have witnessed such atrocities they retain their humanity; they still hold within them kind souls and caring hands. Not only are these men concerned for the well being of those they protect, their affection goes towards the greater good. Lt. Colonel Jim
“I was giving a top secret briefing to Air Force generals on Anthrax and one of the generals could not understand why troops are not quarantined if they have inhalation anthrax, even though technically others could catch anthrax from the infected troop. I told him it is very unlikely. He said “If you had anthrax, how would I catch anthrax from you?” I said, “General, Sir, you would have to eat me.” My airman whispered, “Doc, did you just tell the General ‘eat me?’” – Maj. Andrew Minigutti (’86) “It was one of those nights when you stay up way too late though you have every reason in the world to be sleeping. I decided to jump off the footbridge into the Severn river. I had a very good reason: the Severn, which was teeming with jellyfish that night, and as luck would have it, I landed right in the middle of a swarm of them. My skin stinging as if it would leap right off my flesh, I raced toward my room for a shower and some relief. After several long minutes with no alleviation, my roommate offered me some advice on how I might solve my problem. I only needed to consider his advice for a moment before I decided that sort of thing was best left for the toilet and some ammonia would do the trick better anyway. I went to bed that night asking God why he had made jellyfish.” -Danny Mehl (’88)
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Durbin (’61) recalls an instance where he “was duty bound to charge a subordinate with a serious offense of conspiringin a fraudulent enlistment, and was alone in both in making and substantiating the charge.” However, Durbin did not shirk from this arduous task, he “was able to do the right thing, charging the soldier and initiating an investigation,” an act of strong moral character and social justice. From their freshmen year in high school, these alumni have received a lesson about justice, taught how to give to the greater community and not ask for reward, this noble creed which Jesuit instills in all graduates. So the men in the Armed Forces continue to serve the world, abdicating their abilities for the purpose of individual betterment, allocating them to the improvement of the world, and so, as Jesuit men, we must follow, we must put the needs of others before our own, we must stand to improve not only our own lives but lives of those who live around us.
however, is present in the friendships we develop at Jesuit, and in a sobering, at times gruesome military career. The recurring thought that alumni use to describe Jesuit is the sense of community at Jesuit, the presence of love for the individual, the cura personalis, the Jesuit term for the care of the individual. The work of the students and teachers sets Jesuit apart from other high schools, thus preparing its students to eventually continue this virtuous cycle of care for others. As stated by Thomas McKeown (’56), “in all my years of education I never experienced a better, warmer, more caring, yet more demanding teacher than Fr. Pat O’Donnell. He made us all care about what we were doing and took a personal interest in the progress of each class member,” a characteristic that continues to describe the committed teachers at Jesuit. Yet this love and care is not solely confined to Jesuit, it actually exists in the military as well. Maj. Hall’s experience at Fort Hood illustrates such love. As he impatiently waited on his vehicle and driver to pick him up on a dark, rainy day from his location, Hall, “hopped in the vehicle [as his] driver got out and went into the tent.” Extremely upset, Hall could not understand what was keeping him; Hall had to get to a briefing. But a clerk appeared at Hall’s window saying his First Sergeant needed him back inside. Furious, thinking it better be good, Hall stomped into the tent about to scold his unit when all he saw were the candles on a cake the cooks had made: “My company had made me a birthday cake and some homemade (field-made) cards. My First Sergeant said the soldiers wanted to do something for me
Loving
At graduation, the Jesuit student, well on the way to establishing his own identity, has also begun to move beyond self-interest and self-centeredness in human relationships. By the end of senior year, the graduating Jesuit seniors have moved beyond their own selfinterest. Their weekly community service, yearly service requirements, and Jesuit high school experience have allowed them to find real happiness and a great sense of camaraderie within the halls of 12345 Inwood Road. This sense of selflessness and care for the other fostered at Jesuit has laid the foundation for many successful alumni military careers. Drew Norris (’96) notes that “The ‘Men for Others’ mantra that was beat into us at Jesuit was something that I carried to college in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M and then into the Marine Corps. The camaraderie, team work and brotherhood taught by all three of these great institutions were first instilled in me at Jesuit; it set the basis for the rest of my life.” Yet, when Jesuit students think of “love,” they tend to think of the paternalistic care of a parent, or of a sense of strong affection and attachment to someone. This same act of loving,
Photo: Andrew Minigutti
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since I always tried to take care of them. Lucky for me, the tent was low on light as all would have seen the tears in my eyes.” The love shown within both Jesuit and the US military institutions eventually permeates into the greater global society. Both settings underscore the idea that “you have to put others’ needs ahead of your own desires,” states Mike Chebino (’00). Whether it is serving the homeless, educating the youth or spending time with the sick and elderly, “Jesuit Prep prepare[s] men to be upstandingcitizens and to give back to the community,” says Steve Kelly (´81). But let us not forget the great sacrifices our service men and women make for us everyday, whether it is the long deployments, low pay, emotional trauma, or the ultimate sacrifice of one’s life out of love for our country. As Andrew Minigutti (’96) puts it, “the phrase ‘Man for Others’ easily transitioned to the military because we sign on a dotted line from day one saying we will go into harm’s way and risk death for our entire nation of others.” This is the ultimate sign of love any American or Jesuit graduate can show.
inely a relationship with God and attempt to live out one’s faith. The strong emphasis on faith development can be seen throughout the Jesuit community. Students partake in spiritually enriching experiences throughout their four years at Jesuit. Beginning with the freshman retreat conducted by Jesuit seniors, the new students are quickly introduced to the strong religious tradition at Jesuit and the continual personal growth that accompanies it. Students become actively involved with prayer services and retreats, serving as acolytes, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, cantors, musicians and retreat leaders as they feel called to contribute their personal talents with the greater Jesuit community. This allows for Jesuit students to further their spiritual growth and deepen their relationship with God. As a testament to this, Drew Norris (’96) states, “the moral foundation laid at Jesuit is something that helps me every day, and is not specific to a service career. Having the fortitude to make the hard call and do the right thing is important no matter who signs your pay check.” Thus, this sense of morality and faith in God instilled in Jesuit’s students will be taken with each student long after he graduates, Religious strengthening them in trying times. At graduation, the Jesuit student has been Specifically for those Jesuit alumni curpart of a community which seeks to nurture the rently serving in the military, their relationship seeds of religious faith and commitment to growth with God and their Catholic faith has permitted in each individual. them to overcome Spirituality tough situations. As is always a diffiJoe LaRocca (’50) cult subject to talk honorably served about, even more our country, he so if one’s actions was able to attend may conflict with mass and receive the very beliefs communion freone follows. At quently because Jesuit, the seeds of the chaplains of religious faith aboard the aircraft are sown, in hopes carriers on which of instilling its he served. Yet, as students with a he puts it, “when on cruise and away from one’s heightened knowledge of the major beliefs and family, temptations are very strong. Prayer and practices of the Catholic Church. Throughout the sacraments helped me to make the right one’s tenure at Jesuit, one’s beliefs will be chalchoices and to remain faithful to the Lord and my lenged, ultimately allowing one to develop genufamily.” Interestingly, for LaRocca, war brought Artwork: Ethan Leigh ’10
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him closer to God. He admits that war “gave me a greater appreciation for being a most fortunate American. Yes, it strengthened my faith in God [and] made me realize the importance of having a personal relationship with the Lord.” God is also present in the toughest of situations and his faith in God helped Shane Thompson (’87) stay strong in a pressure-filled environment. He explains that “before we crossed the line into Kuwait to start the ground offensive in Desert Storm, I prayedto God that he would help us all be the best soldiers we could be, and allow us to return home to our families. God answered my prayers.” As individuals, whether preparing to take a final exam or enter into full-on combat, LaRocca’s advice to students is to “keep the Lord in your life everyday because we must always be ready to meet Him.” His advice holds greater weight because LaRocca has experienced both exams and combat. “During boot camp it was common for our laundry to get mixed up with each other’s. One day, we had a huge cadet who played college football who wound up wearing the gym shorts of what must have been the smallest cadet we had. Thankfully I can say that’s the only time I’ve witnessed a man wearing Daisy Dukes.” Danny Mehl (’88)
Men For Others, Men for Country As being or as having been young men we are all destined to journey, to walk roads, cross continents, meander across the great expanse of Earth. To a young man, the ability to wander the wide, wide world seems almost inherent, but this is not true, far from the truth actually. What most young men don’t realize, especially those from the United States of America, is that the reason why they can travel this globe in relative safety is because, once a young boy like themselves decided to join the United States Armed Forces, decided to try and make this world a better place through his service. That boy swore an oath to protect his nation, to protect freedom throughout the world, the same liberty which allows young men to chase their dreams across
continents. Young men coming from a school like Jesuit College Prep whose character is strong, their will sacrosanct, and their minds intuitive are determined on changing the world around them. Through their four years of school they have been taught to carry out justice in the world and serve what is good. The Jesuit Journal can attest that the brave young men who were greeted to their first day of high school by a Jesuit priest and then went on to serve in our nation’s military are some of the most stalwart and honorable men who have journeyed across our planet. They are the reason why, as I write this, I do not have to check my every phrase, the reason why you’re reading my writing and not what a government wants you to read, why Americans are able to enjoy so many liberties and rights. The United States military takes the man that Jesuit spends so long molding out of the boy, disciplining him into a soldier, into not just an individual but a synecdoche of greater, stronger whole. And to those valiant heroes, the wanderers of distant lands, we thank you.
“One of the funniest memories I have of the military was of a friend of mine who was behind enemy lines along the Ho Chi Minh trail. He observed a large amount of vehicular traffice moving south. This traffic was the first indicatino of North Vietnamese troops coming south. When my friend reported to higher HQ, they told him in disbelief that he was crazy as hell. My friend replied, “Wait a few minutes, and I’ll go down and have one of the son of a bitches talk to you!” John C. McCaffey (‘55)
“The
soldier above all
other people prays for
peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
-Douglas Macarthur
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A Speech for a Prayer Service Reid Plauche ’10
“Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? I see a red bird looking at me. Red bird, red bird, what do you see? I see a yellow duck looking at me.” This quote is regularly stuck in my head. It’s no cryptic piece of literature. Just the opening lines to the Children’s story entitled titled Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Written by Bill Martin Jr. We read this book every Wednesday. I work with a class of kids from ages 5 to 7 with learning differences at Vanguard Preparatory School for community service every week. “Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?” I see nine children. I see tiresome, tedious work. I see kids I can often times not communicate with. I see a boy scream in my face.” Week two. I see a boy disappear from the class room. I chase after him. Week three. I sit down and Aiden instantly climbs into my lap. I meet Michael, the most talkative boy I have ever met. Progress. Weeks four, five, and six. I’m greeted with a hug. I learn every students name. I have become the designated “chip-bag opener” for the kids at lunch time. I am having fun. It is week eleven now. Finals week. A week off from community service. Wednesday comes and I do not have to attend school. I sleep until 10, walk downstairs and eat toast with pimento cheese – my favorite. Involuntarily, I begin to think about my kids at Vanguard. What are they up to this Wednesday? I thought. Who is going to help Mr. Mike and Ms. Angela push all of them on the swing set at recess? At this time I hated to admit it. I miss my community service- something that is “required” by my school. Well, I finally accept it. Then I remember the teachers from my site mentioning something about a winter program that was being held on Thursday. Thursday night at 6:30 I am at Vanguard’s “Trip through the Decades.” My class is to portray the fifties. Flynn races a hot-rod, Emily and Ella wear poodle skirts, Ryan is a “greaser”, Michael plays Ricky Nelson and sings “Hello Mary Lou,” Sam dashes across the stage as Superman, Diego shouts “Lucy! I’m home!” and Aiden puts on the funniest Elvis impersonation that I have ever seen. I laugh hysterically. Then, as the kids all walk upon stage to give one final bow, I see beyond their fifties duds. I see around their lack of communication. I don’t see their learning disabilities. I see God in the face of all nine children.. I feel the love that each student gives me. I realize the blessings that I have received. I wonder how I draw these conclusions from the tiresome, tedious work, lack of communication, and boy screaming in my face that I saw in week one. The famous quote I hear from my mom weekly provides an answer: “God works in mysterious ways.” I feel that I get more from these students than they get from me. Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see? I see nine amazing faces every Wednesday looking at me. That’s what I see.
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At
Table The
Jamie Fletcher ‘10
The two men sat in the dimly lit bar room of the old, cold tavern. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was beginning to slip behind the trunks of the great pines outside, casting leaf-like lily pads of shadow onto the grey stone building. Even though it did not provide a luxurious amount of space, the tavern was large and well kept, no dust on the windowsill, tables cleared, floor swept, fire roaring. It was a place of warmth. And in this place there four large, long tables each situated along one of the four walls of the shelter. Each of the these table was about ten feet in length and about three feet in width, carved from the very pines which stood outside and polished a deep and dark brown. The two men sat at the table which faced the Western window, they sat across from one another, and they sat in silence. One of the men was smaller than the other, having a slim figure with sun brown skin and a wild brush of black hair. This man wore a faded blue khaki coat; he wore it with the collar turned up. On the front his coat there were two circular pockets down at his waist and above them, going down each side, were a set of 5 white wood toggle buttons, placed in neat line down the coat. His pants showed signs of travel, signs of once being black but fading to a dark grey. There were brown leather boots on his feet, plastered with the muck and mud from outside, there dark creases and gashes on the once lustrous leather. To keep his pants from sharing the same misfortune, the man had tucked his pant legs into the boots, an attempt to save some face and retain some sophistication.
This man was smoking a pipe and every time the tobacco singed a faint glow would light up his face, clean shaven but wind worn, narrow green eyes, and twigs of hair over his filled eyebrows. Anthony was this man’s name. Across from Anthony stood a large figure, a hefty man sitting down enjoying tea cakes and brandy. Unlike that of his companion, the large man had a rosy face which was overcrowded with blonde whiskers of a flowing beard. He wore a bright red scarf with small cords of fringe at either end, tied in a knot around his neck, however, the knot did not seem large, not protruding out as most scarf’s knots do, and it was buried deep into the large man’s pine needle green tweed coat. The man wore this coat for two reasons, one to contain the colossal amount of weight he had, which sent most of the seams to almost bust, and the second was to keep him warm, from shoulder to knee during the shrieking winter winds. The coat ran all the way down the man’s chest, down across a constellation of 8 brass buttons, down over four large sets of pockets, two up at the chest and two down on the waist, and eventually broke into two tails that covered both the left and right knee. The large man had rested his two massive log-like legs upon the pine table, revealing his dirty khaki pants to his friend, putting his black boots in the face of Anthony. The large man had dropped four teacakes upon his brown vest and tucked in between his elbow and chest was a very large bottle of brandy. His name was Christophe. Let us begin. Anthony put out his pipe and straightened himself up in his chair and looked across to his companion taking a swig from the bottle of Brandy, “Enjoying the break, Christophe?” he asked Photo: Alec Miramontes ´10
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amused. “Of course my dear friend, nothing like a bit of sweetness and a shock of liquor to make a sad man cheery,” Christophe said as he shoved a vanilla tea cake into his mouth. “A bit? Aren’t you understating your appetite?” slipped Anthony, “You have had, atleast, 6 cakes and going on your second bottle!” “Nonsense!” Christophe exclaimed, “All that I have done is filled my hungry, tired belly. I only eat as much as is needed to defeat starving. And I only drink as much as is needed to make the world a little brighter!” “Does not the glaring sunshine outside accomplish that effect?” joked Anthony for the sun outside the stone grey building had already dived past the horizon, leaving behind the soft blanket of darkness. “Come off it, you know full well that there is not a more filthy habit than your smoking!” barked Christophe mockingly, “why, anyone who comes near you has to avert their eyes, better yet their nostrils, in the other direction to clutch any breath of clean air.” Anthony, as if in complete defiance and good humor, pinched off a black clod of tobacco, placed it into his pipe, struck a match and continued smoking. “Guess you will have to remain next to the open windows with me my dear friend.” It seems to me, dear friend, that the only reason that pipe remains lit is because you believe some sense of fashionable intellectualism wafts up in the air entangled with those milky smoke rings you’re such an admirer of, but for what reason I do not know. Is this truly what you think? inquired Anthony It is, Christophe said cooly. Fine then, from this moment on I will lay my pipe to rest. And as these words left Anthony’s mouth so did the long black pipe, placed unto the smooth pine table by Anthony in one, swift motion. So the two men sat, silent and cordial, Christophe ordered another bottle of brandy accompanied by more cakes while Anthony ran his tan fingers through the black streaks of hair on his head. However, they had been traveling all morning, on
their way back from the great Volga, on their way to St. Petersburg, and Anthony’s hair had been splintered stiff by the shivering fall air. Although he was determined to mat it down, it was, or course, sticking out like black beams in every direction, Anthony quickly came to the conclusion that the task was hopeless, stopped and pulled out a small music box, from the bottom pocket of his faded blue khaki coat. He cranked the tiny lever, smudged with grease and a powder of dark colabrown rust, three times he cranked, three times, back, back, back. Christophe watched his friend, intently setting his eyes upon the young man’s face as he listened to the music box. The tune was familiar, one that had been in almost every small mechanical symphony since Christophe was a young boy in Moscow. One of those songs that began with light touches of harmonious hope pinging the listener with soft thoughts, filled with ecstasy, but a tune that transformed when the tiny steel arm slowed its cycle becoming a slow sporadic sullen chorus, one that would be comfortable among a funeral march. And as this music box played its string of notes, Christophe could not help but notice the look on his companions face as if a large weight was pressing, crushing every one of Anthony’s thoughts. With the funeral march ending, it became apparent that so too was Anthony’s commitment. Drawing in a long breath, Christophe sat up in his chair, brushed off the tiny flakes of sticky white cake, and laid his bottle down upon the dark table. “I knew it wouldn’t be long!” he said. “Long till what?” Anthony replied, a look of annoyance beginning to dawn upon his face. “Before you put aside your dedication and took up that pipe again. It’s all over your face, clear as crystal; from eye to eye I can see it!” Christophe chuckled. “It is not in my eyes you lethargic drunk, coaxed Anthony, I am thinking about the cold night ahead of us, this place will not board us this evening, and it will not serve you drinks as long as you’re in this pathetic state! Christophe let out a chuckle, “You know for someone who looks as intelligent as you, you sure seem to miss a lot.”
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“Oh well please do explain to me my ignorance, you brandy braggart,” Anthony responded smartly. “Commitment, my dear friend, is the sole trait which all animate beings share. The single pulse that continues the same rhythm in you as it does in me. We all have a commitment to live, to survive as long as we can so that we may see our own come into existence, see them take their own path in this world, and we become consoled knowing that our line has prolonged its vitality by that much longer, at least one more generation will walk upon this Earth. Look outside boy, what you’ll find are tall pines who will flower and bud every spring, and then those pines will send forth their young into the world. Year after year, no matter how cold the winter was, nor how dry the summer will be, because, of course, the trees can tell the season far beyond the arrival of nature’s signs; those trees are committed to the seeds they produce. If I must put it into a scholastic example take this, the saints of the holy Christ, all aligned there in those tiny churches, underneath those tiny steeples, all praised and glorified for lives of what? The majority of those men and women were beggars! These people were peasants of the lowest standing, who had the dirt and shit of the world underneath their fingernails, who filled their lungs with the putrid stench of back alleys, and public markets. But did they shirk their faith, acquiescing to the pains of their human skin? They carried on Anthony, marched forward determined to make sure that their religion would touch, like the sun’ rays, future generations. It is not the motivation of survival that causes the commitment I speak of but rather the will to see one individual become a part of something greater, to keep some-
thing alive that was forever ago birthed, older even than our ancestors, even though they knew the story well, yes we all give something to keep that pulse alive. Do you not ask how a poet continues writing even though he has covered a range of topics, over a greater range of years? He will not say because he never lacks material, that of course can never be the case, what with such a wide stage as the world, but he will say that it is because he has committed himself to the pen which he holds. They both share the same heartbeat, without the pen the poet cannot script his thoughts, his world onto the page, only with the blue-black blood of that pen does that poet’s dreams become a part of history. And so you see, history, to become a synecdoche of that long line of people, persons who even though centuries apart had the same brother, same sister, laughed in the same way, and loved with the same heart.” A shrill raspy shriek of wind rattled its way through the rafters of the small stone building, scratching every corner with its sickly bled white hands, icing everywhere with its cool touch. Anthony pulled his coat tighter around his slender body, exhaling a light fog of breath. Christophe took a quick slurp of brandy from the bottle on the table beating the ground with his boots as if he were trying to pick up a beat of some old folk dance. In less than a moment, what seemed to be a whirling witch with a long frigid dress left the room, and Christophe quickly jumped up to close the window behind the terror closing the room into a deep state of silence and shadows. The black tongues of flames, encased in their quarry, a cell only to which the fire was confined, licked the western wall. And then the soft space of silence was interrupted. Anthony let out a quick lightening strike of laughter, “So you think that you and I are just
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Photo: Alec Miramontes ´10
repeats of past Romans, maybe some Indian?” “Of course not. What I am saying is that we all face the same challenges in our lives, my dear friend; some face them as they were and always will be, but, for the most part, for the majority of the human race, those challenges will always be the same. The one you have before you is the same that your father had before him, no less, no greater, only one thing will be the variance; how you choose to overcome.” “If that is so Christophe then please do pardon the outcome,” Anthony said as he reached for his pipe, taking the smooth polished wood in his hands, filling it with a perfect pinch of the tobacco which he kept in the greasy brown pouch that hung from his belt. “You’re going to disregard my words so quickly?” Christophe let out with a sigh of disappointment. “On the contrary, I’m taking them to heart,” Anthony quickly defended, “commitment, my dear friend, commitment.” And then he struck the match.
A Poem
Alex Petzos ’12 I carved my name in the sand Painstakingly slow with my weathered hand Each little letter crafted ever so dear Infrangible it did appear I sat alone arrogant and riant The all mighty one eyed giant Nothing would ever bring me down I stood the king of my ghost town But low and behold out of the corner of my eye I spotted something I could not deny The ocean had stolen my treasure away My beautiful name had just decayed Lost into the sands of time The cruelest, wickedest, most severe crime For who should deny a man his name No one my friend, this I proclaim.
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Daniel Merrill ‘10
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