To the Editor:
College President Jim Yong Kim has called upon the whole campus to observe a moment of silence at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 11 (11.11.11.11) in honor of American veterans. Most students and faculty members at Dartmouth today have never experienced war in any form. This is an important moment for those of us who have been spared the horror of war to remember those who have suffered in it.
While I will certainly observe that moment of silence, for me it will be an occasion, not to celebrate, but to remember all those who have suffered and died in war. Not only should we try to remember the almost unspeakable carnage of World War I, whose end gave rise to the first Armistice Day, but also the wars that have occurred ever since. I hope that our silence will be a prayer of communal grief for the millions of people who have been killed whether they were combatants or civilians and that it will also be a commitment (most acutely felt by those who have actually experienced war) to the day when nations will study war no more.
Richard R. CrockerCollege ChaplainDean of the Tucker Foundation
