DLIFLC 60th Anniversary

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DLI Bumper Sticker 3

 

 My Alma Mater, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (the oldest and best language school in the world) celebrated it's 60th Anniversary at the Presidio of Monterey, California on November 2nd, 2001.  As I am a member of the  DLIFLC Club on Yahoo, I found out about the event before it happened and was able to make arrangements to take a short vacation and fly out there to take part.  

The celebration honored not only the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the institute, but also honored the bravery of the original students, first generation Japanese Americans ("Nisei"), many of whom enlisted in the U.S. Army despite the fact that their families (and some of them) had been placed in internment camps after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  They went on to fight as part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team , one of the most decorated units in U.S. military history.  Those guys were true heroes, and many of them were there to witness their unit finally receive a Presidential Unit Citation.  It was an honor to meet them.

 

The Tin Barn

The Tin Barn

 

SGM (Retired) Bob Britton of the PAO Office

SGM (Retired) Bob Britton of the PAO Office

 

Classroom Buildings

Pomerene Hall,  Aiso Library and Taylor Hall

 

Directional Sign

Directional Sign

 

Parade Ground 1

Retreat Ceremony at the Parade Ground

Parade Ground 6Parade Ground 10

422nd Veterans

Veterans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team

Parade Ground 16Parade Ground 2

Parade Ground 4Parade Ground 5

Parade Ground 7Parade Ground 8

Parade Ground 9Parade Ground 13

Parade Ground 14Parade Ground 15

 

DLIFLC Crest

DLI Crest

The Institute’s Crest symbolizes the dual heritage of the Defense Language Institute and the Presidio of Monterey. Originally designed for the U.S. Army Language School, the crest was adopted in 1963 by the Defense Language Institute. It is also used by our sister school, the Defense Language Institute English Language Center.

The upper right corner of the shield depicts a fragment of the Rosetta Stone bearing the name of Egyptian ruler Ptolemy V (203–181 BC) in two languages (ancient Egyptian and Greek) and three scripts (Egyptian hieroglyphic and demotic scripts and Greek capital letters). Its discovery by a French military expedition in 1799 enabled scholars for the first time to decipher this complex pictographic writing, from which much of our knowledge of Egypt’s ancient civilization is derived.

The cap on the lower left portion was worn by the San Carlos Catalan Volunteers, Spanish soldiers who accompanied Father Junipero Serra on his Sacred Expedition of 1769–70 to establish a string of missions in Alta California. In 1770, on the site of present-day Monterey, they built a small fort (presidio) to protect the San Carlos Borromeo Mission.

Red and blue reflect the wartime and peacetime missions of the Institute, and the green olive branch reflects the aim of promoting peace through understanding. The gold torch on top is a traditional symbol of learning and knowledge