Moe Berg ’23’s Service

Wonderful piece on Moe Berg ’23 (Rally ’Round the Cannon, posted online Feb. 21). His refusal of the Medal of Freedom reminds me of another equally selfless Princetonian in his service to the nation: Martin Hoffmann ’54. 

A man of similar élan, he refused the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Medal awarded to him by his Princeton classmate Donald Rumsfeld. I have it in my memorabilia to include Marty’s handwritten inscription on the medal’s citation on why he refused it. That is a story in and of itself. Anyway, another memorable small Princeton story in the nation’s service.