Remembering the Penn Staters who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country
Two of the Penn State fallen who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country are memorialized on the University Park campus.
First Lt. Harry Edward Wagner, U.S. Army, is honored by being the namesake of the ROTC building on (east) Curtin Road. A native of Harrisburg, he was a 1941 Phi Beta Kappa graduate who also served as president of the Interfraternity Council. As a first lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division he jumped into Normandy on D-Day only to be cut down by artillery fire on D+22.
Lieutenant Michael Patrick Murphy, U.S. Navy, is memorialized at the Veterans Plaza on the front east side of Old Main, which bears his name. He was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor, this country’s highest decoration “for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and above and beyond the call of duty.” A native of Smithtown, NY, he is a 1998 graduate with honors who earned two B.A.’s in political science and psychology. As a member of the Naval Special Warfare branch, he was leading a four-man SEAL special reconnaissance team in the Kindu Kush mountain range of Afghanistan when they were attacked and overwhelmed by Taliban fighters.
Lt. Murphy was wounded numerous times in the extended firefight and made the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow teammates when he exposed himself to enemy fire in an effort to call for aerial support. He succumbed to his wounds while still surrounded on June 28, 2005.
In World War II, 384 Penn Staters died while in the service to our country. Their names, along with the 74 dead from World War I, are memorialized by two plaques in the lobby of Old Main.
Currently there is an outstanding exhibition in the All-Sports Museum in Beaver Stadium. The “I am a Penn Stater” exhibit relates the story of the 1,200 varsity athletes who served during the 1938-1945 conflict. Among them are 27 Nittany Lions who died in service to their country.
Several fraternities have memorials to their brothers who never came back to Happy Valley. My fraternity, Sigma Pi, for instance, has a plaque in the foyer of the chapter house bearing the names of the three brothers who were never able to experience a homecoming in Theta House. They are:
Captain John J. Spangler, U.S. Army, a company commander in the 4th Infantry Division. After landing at Utah Beach on D-Day he was killed in action on D+1. For his exemplary leadership and valor before the enemy he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. He is buried in the beautiful U.S. Military Cemetery in Normandy, France. A native of Boonesboro and Bellefonte, he graduated in 1935 with a B.S. in commerce and finance.
Ensign Leonard C. Urquhart, U.S. Naval Reserve pilot who was lost at sea off the coast of Brunswick, GA, on Jan. 19, 1943. His name is on the Tablets of Missing at the World War II East Coast Memorial at Battery Park, New York City. Urquhart was enrolled 1940-1942, and left Penn State before graduating in order to earn his Navy wings. Born in Ithaca, NY, he grew up in Bellefonte, as his father was a professor at Penn State.
Staff Sergeant Thomas N. Harris, U.S. Army Air Corps. A radio operator serving on a B-26 Marauder bomber his plane was reported missing in November 1942 after failing to return from a mission over Algeria, North Africa. Posthumously awarded the Air Medal, his name is on the Wall of Missing at the U.S. North Africa Cemetery outside Tunis, Tunisia. A native of Ellwood City, he graduated with a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1941.
Sigma Pi is the only Penn State fraternity to have a memorial to the 98 brothers who served in World War II, among whom is All-American Steve Suhey and “Whitey” von Nieda, the oldest living NBA player.
This Memorial Day Penn State alumni, students, staff and faculty are asked to remember Penn State’s fallen, who exemplify the last stanza of our Alma Mater:
“may our lives but swell thy fame.”
Thomas C. Fosnacht, Colonel, US Army, Retired, is a member of the Penn State Class of 1970.
