Pres. Durden, Dean Weissman, Prof. Pinsker, Mr. Pohanka, Cricket, Members of the Pohanka Family, Mr. Curley, Members of the Dickinson Community, Friends:
"Friends" -- Yes, that is the word to use. For nearly a third of a century, Brian Pohanka and I were friends. We met in the late autumn of 1973 (Monday, December 10, to be precise; we historians, you know, always record the great dates of history). Right away, in the first semester of his first year at Dickinson, he ventured all the way across town to do research at the Military History Research Collection (as the Army Military History Institute was known in those days). Many people, to be sure, travel hundreds, even thousands of miles, from all around the world to study our holdings. But for a first-semester freshman to do so -- now that was remarkable.
But, then, Brian himself was remarkable. He was always different, distinctive, exceptional, outstanding. He had the interest, the initiative, the drive, the dedication to recognize and pursue opportunities and to fulfill them to good advantage. Already as a freshman at Dickinson College, he came to the Institute in order to broaden himself through our voluminous holdings on the Civil War. Even then, his earnest expression symbolized his passionate commitment to pursuing the truth, to striving for the best, to doing what was right, both as a scholar and also as a person.
Right away I recruited him for the nationally recognized Harrisburg Civil War Round Table. His knowledge and leadership were so apparent that we asked him to guide our Round Table's field trip to Monocacy Battlefield near Frederick, Maryland, in the spring of 1975. What a grand trip he led! Way back in 1975, the National Park Service unit at Monocracy had not yet been developed -- but it soon would be, thanks to his great work as historical researcher for U.S. Representative Byron. Indeed, he was able to get us onto portions of the battlefield which, even today, are not part of the National Park. My fellow members and I marveled at how such a young man had such connections and such commitment to contribute to the commonweal.
We soon came to realize that accomplishing the exceptional was Brian's style. Many times over the ensuing decades, he returned to the Institute to donate unique sources to our Archives and to do research for Time-Life books, for Greystone films, for his own writings, for his work in behalf of battlefield preservation. And always, always, he made these efforts not for his self-indulgence or personal aggrandizement but for the greater good: to preserve our heritage and to share it with others, now and on into the future. The land that he helped to save and the literature that he helped to create -- these are his legacy.
He leaves another great legacy in the Brian C. Pohanka Faculty Chair in American Civil War History, which is being dedicated today. Thanks to this chair, scholars now and for years to come will make contributions to our understanding of the Civil War, and class after class of Dickinson students will learn about the Civil War -- the war that meant so much to Brian. Prof. Pinsker, I know that as you and your classes pursue these studies, you and they will follow in Brian's footsteps and will draw upon the vast Civil War holdings of the Military History Institute.
These continuing connections will reinforce the bonds of friendship which have always existed between our two institutions. There we have it again: that word "Friendship." This, too, is one of Brian's legacies. He had hundreds of friends in the Civil War community (and a number of them are in the audience today): scholars and students, buffs and re-enactors, Park Service staff and preservationists, documentarians and film makers, active and retired military, descendants of soldiers -- a broad array of people, professional and lay, who share Brian's abiding love of history. For the last 32 years, I was one of those friends. I shall always treasure our friendship. I treasure, as well, the privilege of sharing in this ceremony, which so symbolizes Brian's selfless service. |
