The hellebores of war and memory

Finding memorials on campus

Given my interest in memorialization, I am often drawn to statues, plaques, engraved rocks, etc. that abound on Amherst College’s campus. On today’s walk, for instance, I noticed this plaque commemorating the Class of 1990s gift of a sidewalk ramp.

Then, across the street, a patch of flowers drew my attention. They were blooming in front of a memorial that was one of the first I noticed on campus after moving here but which I hadn’t visited in awhile.

This memorial, designed by sculptor Jo Davidson, pays tribute to Guy Levy-Despas, an Amherst student who hailed from France. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force after Germany occupied France during World War II. He was shot down over Malta and disappeared at sea. The memorial includes a quote from his time in the service:

“Of course I am young full of ideals in love with the life of adventure, but I believe that where one’s country is concerned nothing is sufficient short of of the maximum.” -Guy Levy-Despas, July 12, 1941

The marker is situated next to the former Chi Phi fraternity house (the college banned on campus fraternities in 1984), and the back lists members of Chi Phi who perished during WWII, fourteen men of the one hundred and eight total Amherst men who died during the war.

You’ll notice the eagle appears to be clutching lightning bolts in his one talon, perhaps a nod to the US air medal. Can anyone identify the plant in the other talon? I’m trying to decode the symbolism.

These were the flowers, hellebores of some variety, that caught my eye.

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