I am a graduate of the Class of 1980 and proud to call Gen. Milley a friend. We have not stayed in touch except for emails every now and then. He did invite me to Washington, D.C., when he was sworn in but my wife, a devout Democrat, couldn’t stand our then-president. I still wanted to go but wasn’t sure that I would pass security given my decade plus as a trial judge handling primarily criminal cases and authoring numerous opinions questioning the propriety of certain arrests and so forth. While both of us certainly were involved in conduct at Princeton which might have disqualified us from our future positions but for the lack of cell phones, our country has been well served by Mark.
In 2006, then-President Tilghman noted in her Commencement address that she hoped that the graduates would carry with them the spirit of Princeton. This included a determination to follow one’s passions in service to the common good, openness to new ideas, and a willingness to engage in civil discourse with integrity and mutual respect. This is Mark. Well done, my friend.