James Howard Monroe Memorial

James Howard Monroe came from Illinois and attended Washington and Lee as a member of the Class of 1966. He subsequently served as a private first class and combat medic with the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). His military duties placed him alongside infantrymen in the field, where he was responsible for reaching and treating wounded soldiers during combat.

During a nighttime attack near Bong Son, Vietnam, on February 16, 1967, Monroe moved through enemy fire to answer calls for medical assistance. While treating a wounded radio operator beside the platoon sergeant, he saw a grenade land nearby. He warned the men, pushed them aside, and covered the grenade with his body. His Medal of Honor citation credits him with saving two soldiers’ lives and preventing probable injury to several others. Monroe’s family received his Medal of Honor posthumously in October 1968.

In May 1986, during their 20th Reunion, the Class of 1966 dedicated the bronze memorial, painted white, in Lee Chapel as a way to memorialize their fallen classmate. The ceremony held particular significance for classmate and Vietnam veteran Bruce Rider ’66. Reflecting on the occasion, Rider recalled, “The ceremony in Lee Chapel was genuine, was authentic, was in fact healing.”

For Rider, the setting also connected the experiences of his generation with Robert E. Lee’s response to the devastation of the Civil War. “It is still not easy to get beyond the losses, the deaths, the anger, and the pain of the Vietnam experience,” he wrote. “But, as in so many areas, Robert E. Lee continues to lead the way. To restoration. To forgiveness.” Rider concluded that Lee’s example of “accomplishment and honor” continued to live in Washington and Lee’s students and alumni.

The University removed the bronze plaque from Lee Chapel in 2021. Before its reinstallation, metal restoration specialist Steve Roy removed the white coating and restored the plaque’s bronze finish. It was subsequently installed at Memorial Gateway and formally rededicated on October 21, 2022, alongside the Kiffin Yates Rockwell and Moomaw–Lingle memorials, which had also been removed from the Chapel.

IN MEMORY OF
JAMES HOWARD MONROE
OF
WHEATON, ILLINOIS
CLASS OF 1966
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS MONROE WAS KILLED IN ACTION
SERVING WITH THE 1ST CAVALRY DIVISION, AIRMOBILE
UNITED STATES ARMY
IN BONG SON, HOAI NHON PROVINCE, VIETNAM
16 FEBRUARY 1967
HE WAS AWARDED THE
CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR
THE NATION’S HIGHEST MILITARY DECORATION
“… FOR CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY AND INTREPIDITY IN ACTION
AT THE RISK OF HIS LIFE ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL
OF DUTY. HIS VALOROUS ACTION, PERFORMED IN A FLASH OF
INSPIRED SELFLESSNESS, SAVED THE LIVES OF HIS COMRADES.”
… AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN
AND IN THE MORNING
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

On June 4, 2021, the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees announced plans to rename Lee Chapel and restore its auditorium to an “unadorned design,” physically separating it from the Lee family crypt and memorial sculpture. As part of these changes, university officials removed twenty historical plaques and memorials from the chapel sanctuary.

On October 21, 2022, three of the plaques commemorating veterans who had attended Washington and Lee were formally rededicated at the Memorial Gateway, located at the Jefferson Street entrance to campus. The memorials honored Kiffin Yates Rockwell, James Howard Monroe, Clovis Moomaw and John Arthur Lingle Jr. At the dedication, Rector Mike McAlevey, ’86, declared, “The plaques belong here; the names belong here. They join the names of our fellow alumni who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country.”

Other memorials commemorating military service were not reinstalled. In a July 21, 2022, update, the university had announced that “most of the other plaques [removed from the chapel] will be moved to the galleries in the building or to the new institutional history museum, where they can be displayed with more historical context.” In its October 25, 2022 announcement concerning the Memorial Gateway dedication, the university reiterated that “the remaining plaques will be moved to the Chapel Galleries or into the new institutional history museum upon its completion.” When the renovated chapel galleries reopened in June 2026, only six of the seventeen remaining memorials had been returned to public display.

The university has not responded to recent TGR inquiries concerning the whereabouts and future exhibition of removed plaques. However, in September 2026 correspondence with The W&L Spectator, Museum Director Matt Davis stated: “Our storage facility is not open to the public, nor do we make a list of our collections inventory available to the public.” He further explained that “the size and weight of some of these artifacts are not conducive to public viewing.” Regarding their future exhibition, Davis wrote: “It is possible that some or all of these artifacts will eventually be incorporated into temporary or permanent exhibits once the new museum is open, and we hope to have online databases and viewing rooms in the future.”

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20191022225245/https://columns.wlu.edu/a-time-to-heal/

2. https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/james-h-monroe

3. https://www.wlu.edu/about-w-l/leadership/board-of-trustees/messages-from-the-board-of-trustees/message-archive-2020-2023/the-future-of-washington-and-lee-university

4. https://columns.wlu.edu/update-on-university-chapel-renovations/

5. https://columns.wlu.edu/new-plaques-dedicated-to-the-memorial-gateway/