The Blue Guidon
The Newsletter of Andover and the Military Summer 2024
Andover Values Help Career Take Flight
By Rush Taylor ’96
I recently interviewed U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Hanson Causbie ’08 to find out more about his unexpected journey through life, from his accidental discovery of Andover to his multiple deployments as an Army aviator and, finally, to his next chapter as a transportation-focused attorney. I caught up with Hanson just after he had put his 11-month-old daughter to bed at their home in Arlington, Virginia.
Hanson Causbie did not dream of flying Apache attack helicopters in the Army while growing up in Methuen, Massachusetts. His mother worked in health-care management, focusing on workplace risk management, and his father, a lawyer, mostly did elder law and estate planning. While attending public middle school in Methuen, Causbie had a science teacher who had graduated from Andover and mentioned the idea to him. Causbie also realized they had a family friend who attended Andover who was also very supportive of
the idea. He credits Andover’s generous financial aid offer as the only way his family could afford the opportunity.
As a day student, Causbie spent 12 to 14 hours a day during the week on campus—split between classes, sports, studying, and volunteering. His first impression of Andover echoed many other students’ introduction to the school in that “the kids were just way too smart” and the intimidation of moving from a public school to Andover was all too real—but the opportunities seemed endless. Causbie stayed busy with extracurricular activities, such as rowing, cross country, volunteering with ARC, and representing other day students on the day student council, which helped embed the service mentality he espouses to this day. At Andover, he also earned a fellowship that allowed him to visit Mongolia. There, he worked in an orphanage, acquiring a perspective few ever experience firsthand.
When he returned to campus, Causbie settled continued on page 2
Capt. Hanson Causbie, center, leads a post-mission discussion with crew chiefs in Syria in 2018.
Every Battle & Skirmish
By David Chase, AATM Historian
The online Phillips Academy Civil War project* documents 872 alumni who fought in the war. One was Lewis Garrison “Gat” Holt, Class of 1860. He grew up on Holt Road, a mile and a half south of campus. The farm had been in the family since the mid-18th century; the house still stands. Gat Holt’s Civil War letters detail the experiences of Private Holt, Company H, 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. Recruited in the Town of Andover, Company H included five members of the Holt family and 28 Phillips Academy alumni, more than any other Civil War unit.
Gat Holt enlisted July 5, 1861. He was 19. Initially assigned to garrison duty outside Washington, D.C., on October 3rd he wrote: “I am going to the city and get the picture of my homely visage (now homelier than ever) and send it to you, for I am just as liable to be killed as anybody.” In a letter penned three days later, Gat reported: “Old Abe and Mrs. Abe passed through here yesterday…I was on guard…when I saw it
was the president I presented arms. He took off his hat and bowed very politely…I was on guard last night, and I tell you, it was a night to make a fellow think of home and feather beds. It rained pretty smart and the fog was so thick that we had to keep punching holes through to let the moon shine through…I was on the parapet…when, WHACK, I run against one of the big guns so hard stars flew.”
Holt’s letters tell of larger matters from a personal perspective, like army leadership. In November 1861 he sent home an account of a grand review of the Army of the
Potomac: “McClellan appeared [generalin-chief of the Union Army]. The artillery fired a salute…every band struck up Hail to the Chief. The General is the most noble looking man ever I saw. As he rode along the line with his hat off …I don’ believe there wasn’t a man that [wouldn’t go] into a battle with him at the head.” By August 1862, McClellan’s stock had fallen: “I saw John Day [PA Class of 1858] this morning. He don’t have much faith in Mac. He says Mac is a good engineer but he don’t know any more about fighting than a jackass does about preaching.”
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into the day student rhythm of both living at home and essentially squatting wherever possible on campus to get the required homework done. His humble beginnings and foundational non sibi values infused at Andover would launch him higher and farther than he ever imagined.
When it came time to apply to colleges, he was singularly focused on the service academies, and his first choice by far was West Point. Causbie said he was drawn specifically to West Point because he viewed the Army as “the blue-collar service that resonated with his Methuen roots” and he knew his work ethic would fit right in. He achieved both of those dreams, graduating with a degree in comparative politics and heading off to helicopter flight training, where he did well enough to receive a coveted Apache attack helicopter slot.
Upon reaching his first real duty assignment at Fort Liberty, Causbie was immediately told to start preparations for deploying as a platoon leader with the 82nd Airborne.
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He deployed to Jalalabad, Afghanistan, for a nine-month tour with fewer than 100 hours of Apache flight time. In the Apache, the co-pilot sits in the front seat and operates the radios and the weapons systems, while the aircraft commander sits in the back and flies the aircraft. The learning curve was huge, but he found the satisfaction of transitioning from training to employing the weapons system dynamic and exciting. He finished his time at his first duty station by working in the battalion headquarters.
For his next move, Causbie elected to attend the Maneuver Captain’s Career Course—a course reserved typically for infantry and armor officers—rather than the
standard Captain’s Course so that he could improve his tactical proficiency by expanding his understanding of the needs of the ground force.
After completing the course, Causbie moved to Fort Carson, where he took command of an attack helicopter company.
Causbie with his wife, Debbie, at Fort Carson, Colorado, in 2019 and, at right, with Lt. Col. Wesley King at the Pentagon following his promotion to major in summer 2022.
At left: Lewis Garrison “Gat” Holt, Class of 1860. Above: The Potomac at Harpers Ferry, circa 1863.
In July 1863, Holt described a rainlashed artillery duel across the Potomac, his First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery on the Maryland shore, near Sandy Hook, Confederate guns at Harpers Ferry, Virginia: “We drove the Rebs out of the town, made our coffee, then laid down in mud. When we got up in the morning we were as wet as rats and as cold as frogs.” That September, Holt’s company manned the big guns mounted atop Maryland Heights, overlooking Harpers Ferry: “I am in a log house now with nine other boys. It makes good warm quarters…but when it rains it is a little inclined to leak.” Thanks to Gat, we know that on Christmas Day 1863 Company H enjoyed doughnuts for breakfast, pie for lunch, and roast beef for dinner.
In May 1864, Company H was mauled at Spotsylvania, Virginia. Gat Holt was unhurt, but 42 in the regiment were wounded. Fourteen died, four PA alumni among them, including Gat’s cousin, Jonathan Abbot Holt, Class of 1858. That June, during a skirmish outside Richmond, Gat was shot. The wound was minor: “I felt a sting in the neck and the blood began to run down my back. The fellow that was with me…said he could see the ball and I told him to pull it out. It stuck out just far enough for him to get hold of it…I went to the hospital and had the wound dressed and now I am all right, with the exception of a stiff neck.”
Lewis Garrison Holt mustered out in
August 1865. But his war wasn’t over. It haunted him for decades. In June 1891, Holt wrote to his sister of a dream: “I went over every battle and skirmish…I saw every man of Co. H alive and well, and I saw them fall on the field at Spotsylvania, some dead and some wounded. I saw the wounded tenderly taken up and cared for after the battle, and I saw the dead laid in a row, side by side, touching elbows, as they did in the ranks. I saw the trench dug, and the dead laid in it still touching elbows, their caps over their faces. I heard the short prayer of the Chaplain…I saw those who were left of Company H standing with uncovered, drooping heads, while tears fell from their eyes, as the dirt was not thrown but gently pushed in, as though taking care not to hurt their poor dead comrades. A strip of hardtack box [served as a makeshift headstone] on which was written the name of each and ‘killed at Spotsylvania May 19th 1864’…It was as real as it was twenty seven years ago.”
Next Memorial Day, remember Gat Holt, Class of 1860. Honor his comrades— especially the 120 PA alumni who died in the Civil War to preserve this nation.
A Fighting Spirit
By George S.K. Rider ’51
I was 9 years old on December 7, 1941. We were listening to the radio when Charles Daly broke into the regular program and announced the attack on Pearl Harbor. I remember Dad, a Brit, taking our American flag and the Union Jack outside on a cold day and hoisting them on our flagpole, then lowering them to half-mast. The tragedy was etched on his face, no doubt tempered by the fact that his beloved England would finally get the help that they so badly needed.
At that time, Henry Richard “Dick” Duden Jr. ’43 was an upper at Andover, where he amassed quite a resume of academic and athletic accomplishments—a prelude to an equally impressive record at Annapolis.
Hours after taking command, his battalion commander notified him that the unit’s upcoming deployment had been changed from a training deployment to Europe to one supporting operations in Iraq and Syria. Causbie and his company trained hard for the next nine months so that they could choose between deploying to the somewhat sleepy Iraqi base or to Syria, where the company would be at the forefront of eradicating ISIS from Syria.
Unsurprisingly, they chose Syria. His company lived in bombed-out buildings still marked with ISIS graffiti, ate street food off the local economy, and flew thousands of hours in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. While in Syria, Causbie started dreaming of his post–active duty life and settled on law school; he started studying for the LSAT while deployed. Andover instilled within Causbie the non sibi foundation, and he saw practicing law as a continuation of this ideal. He understood the importance of pro bono work to the
profession and looked forward to dedicating time to those who could not afford legal services.
Causbie left active duty for the U.S. Army Reserve in 2020. He has held multiple positions while navigating Georgetown Law School and passing the bar exam. He worked as a Reserve Officer Training Corp instructor at MIT, a staff officer augmentee at the Pentagon, and now works as an inspector general at the Army Reserve Legal Command in Gaithersburg, Maryland. As a civilian, Causbie has spent the past year clerking for the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the top appellate court in the military justice system. This fall, Causbie will start private practice at a law firm in the Washington, D.C., area focusing on transportation regulatory law. He credits Andover with making him “a better person, and definitely a better military officer.”
Duden entered the U.S Naval Academy in 1943 on a three-year accelerated war track. He graduated in 1946 with honors—and as a battalion commander—as a member of the class of 1947. He had earned nine varsity letters, three each in football, basketball, and baseball. In 1945, he was elected football captain; the Naval Academy’s record during Duden’s three years was 22–5–1. He was voted to the All-Time Army-Navy team in 1972, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001, and inducted into the Andover Athletics Hall of Honor’s inaugural class of 2008.
After graduating from Annapolis, Duden served aboard the USS Sicily (CVE-118) and the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. Following active duty, he joined the Navy Reserve and played for the New York Giants in 1949. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War and served as gunnery officer aboard the USS Chickasaw (AT-83).
Duden’s service continued after returning from the Korean War when he signed on to coach football at the Naval Academy. He would coach alongside Steve Belichick (father of former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick ’71) for more than three decades.
*Visit the Phillips Academy Civil War project online and search alumni in the Civil War.
Dick Duden ’43 at Andover
Summer 2024 Kristensen Scholars
Two students, each with family members who are serving in the military, were awarded this year’s AATM-sponsored Kristensen Scholarship, established in honor of Lt. Cmdr. Erik S. Kristensen ’91, USN, SEAL, who was killed in action while leading Operation Red Wings in 2005. The scholarship covers five weeks of Summer Session academics, special activities, and fun on the Phillips Academy campus.
Mikaela Tupac-Yupanqui, at left, arrived at Summer Session from Norfolk Academy in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Her father is a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard. Mikaela is very good at math, and her hobbies include figure skating, dance, and gymnastics. She is eager to apply all that she’s learned at Andover as she enters eighth grade this fall.
Louie Jin Chapman came to Andover from Yigo, Guam, where his father is a staff sergeant and combat munitions training instructor at Andersen Air Force Base. The family’s frequent moves to different countries and regions have enabled Louie to experience many cultures. Math is his favorite subject. “It is challenging,” says the rising seventh-grader, “but you can feel the growth when you put in the effort.”
Since 2014, 20 young people from military families have attended Summer Session as a Kristensen Scholar, thanks in part to the generosity of Andover and the Military donors. To learn more about Lt. Cmdr. Erik Kristensen’s heroic sacrifice and to donate to the Kristensen Scholarship Fund, please visit andover.edu/paserves
You Are Invited! Annual Veterans Day Event
Phillips Academy and the Andover and the Military Committee cordially invite you back to campus for the 15th annual Veterans Day Dinner & Program on Thursday, November 7, 2024, in Kemper Auditorium. The guest speaker will be U.S. Navy Cmdr. Hunter D. Washburn ’00. All are welcome to join us for this free event.
A “Save the Date” postcard with further details will be mailed in September.
From the Editor
Leadership is a lifelong journey. Some of us struggle with leading (and following) more than others, and for some it just never clicks. I recently took command of an Air Force squadron in Hawaii, and I find myself constantly questioning all the leadership lessons I have learned over the past 20 years in the military and in my 46 years of life.
The squadron of around 100 people looks to me for answers that I often do not readily have. My phone randomly rings with work concerns, building problems, and family issues, to name a few—all of which need attention and, more importantly, leadership. I think back to my time at Andover and how it prepared me. Responsibility, focus, attention to detail, and organization were of paramount importance during my four years at Andover. Arguably, all of these were secondary to the foundational cornerstone of non sibi
My command tour will be over before I know it, and life will slow back down. There is only a small window of time to help these 100 squadron members on their journey, and I remind myself daily that my time is not just mine; it’s their time too. Reach out to me (military@andover.edu) with your stories of leadership or followership and how they may relate back to your time at Andover. Our Andover community— military and civilian—will benefit from your experiences!
Published biannually by the Office of Academy Resources, Phillips Academy
EDITOR Rush Taylor ’96
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
George Rider ’51, P’86, GP’22
HISTORIAN
David Chase, Faculty Emeritus
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Rob Patrick ’88, Chair Luis Gonzalez ’97, Vice Chair Justin Accomando ’99 Rush Taylor ’96 CURRENTLY
Andres Aleman ’23 Remy de Saint Phalle ’23 Maximillian Gomez ’23
Daniel Zou
Hawn ’89
’91
USAF Lt. Col. Rush Taylor ’96