Remembrance

by John Bishop

While we revel in the possibilities of LA’ s future, especially as it relates to the school’ s exciting new master plan, it ’ s always good to take a look back on how the past has shaped Lawrence Academy ’ s history and how our alumni have participated in world-shaping events.

Seventy years ago, men from across the globe fought for the Allies and participated in the liberation of Europe, which saw its genesis on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the invasion of Nazi-occupied France. Just under two years prior, in his December 10, 1942 letter to alumni, Principal Fred C. Gray reported that 172 former students were already doing their part “ on land, sea, and in the air ” and that four had already been killed, with others interred in prison camps.

Emblematic of those LA graduates who fought against the Axis powers in an attempt to rid the world of totalitarian dictatorship is Captain Frederick “Moose ” T. Heyliger ’37.

Fred is perhaps known best to modern audiences and readers as a member of author Stephen Ambrose and producer Stephen Spielberg ’ s “Band of Brothers, ” the men of E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne who fought from Normandy to Hitler ’ s Eagle ’ s Nest.

However, the

“Moose ” who appeared in LA’ s Minstrel Show his senior year and played varsity football for LA (reportedly at 205 pounds, wearing a size 18 collar) is remembered in the 1937 Lawrencian as an “ authority on nature study who can been seen almost any afternoon equipped with his camera, notebook, and field glasses ” tramping about the Groton countryside.

Post-war, his love for nature would eventually find Heyliger at Stockbridge College of Agriculture; but, as a soldier, Uncle Sam had Fred jumping out of airplanes. After enlisting in 1940, Fred became an officer and participated in the D-Day invasion, leading a mortar platoon in France and Holland, and earned commendations that included the British Military Cross and an Army citation for gallantry (both for leading an operation that resulted in the rescue of 130 British soldiers); the European African-Middle Eastern Theatre Ribbon with two Battle Stars and Bronze Arrowhead; a WWII Victory Medal; an American Theatre Ribbon; Presidential Unit Citation; the Belgian Croix de Guerre; and the Holland Lanyard.

Wounded by friendly fire on October 31, 1944, Heyliger spent nearly three years in military hospitals recovering from his wounds. “Dad never talked about his injury, ” recalled Fred Heyliger Jr. ’61, when interviewed for Marcus Brotherton ’ s book A Company of Heroes. “But he had a good-sized scar on his shoulder and the whole calf on the back of his right leg was gone.

Noting the entry in his father ’ s yearbook to Brotherton, Fred Jr. made sure that people understood that his dad—like many who served during WWII—remained true to his nature, despite the horrors he had witnessed and endured in combat. “Picture Moose Heyliger wandering over the Groton hills with binoculars and a bird book. That ’ s how I’d want people to remember my dad. ”

Frederick “Moose ” Heyliger, the

“little ” brother of recently inducted LA Athletic Hall of Fame honoree Vic Heyliger ’33, passed away in 2001 at the age of 85. He is fondly remembered and serves as a reminder of the debt of gratitude that is owed to those who have served our country.

Frederick “Moose ” Heylinger

LA honors alumni who gave their lives in service to our country

CIVIL WAR

Jonathan Brooks Arthur Buckminster Fuller Charles R. Prescott William H. Priest William Henry Priest William G. Rand Charles K. Stoddard George H. Williams

WWI

Elmer Needham Buswell ’11 Laurence Washburn Gay ’15 Harold Sumner Small ’06

WWII

Joseph William Ahern

’37 William Edward Boyden Jr.

’42 Richard Alvin Carmichael ’35 Charles Davis ’40 John Devine ’38 Edward Leo Donahue William T. Donovan

’37 Daniel F. Driscoll ’42 Edwin Frederic Fuller ’35 John Girdziewski ’39 Charles Rowley Gordon ’39 Robert C. Horton ’40 Bryce Harding Kiberd ’44 Andrew Joseph McLaughlin ’38

Charles Arnold Morgan ’36

Edward Pitcairn Morris ’36

Richard Lindsay Nowlin ’39 Gardner Durfee Randall ’32 John Starr ’37 John Hilton Starr ’39 Irwin Harold Zura ’39 Frederick W. Fromme Jr. ’49

VIETNAM Richard Gray

’65 Richard Driggs LeMay ’58

Douglas F. Moore

’67 Thomas T. Osborne ’63