This medal was chosen as the 16th issue of the prestigious Society of Medalists series in 1937. The obverse bears five nude youths bearing father's bier. The youngest carries a laurel wreath. Around, IN PEACE SONS BURY THEIR FATHERS; at lower left, BEACH / © 1937. The reverse bears a gaunt father carrying son's body from the battlefield as vultures circle. Around, IN WAR THE FATHERS BURY THEIR SONS.
The brochure which acommpanied the medal had the following words from the artist:
"The tought of the medal is a simple, universal one when men pause to think straight; for that reason I have designed the medal as of no particular period. The Greeks probably put it most tersely, 'In Peace the Sons bury the Fathers, in War the Fathers bury the Sons.' Are our young men to be buried almost before mature manhood, under long rows of stone crosses, or are they to round out their lives and in turn be buried in reverence by their sons in peace? A thought to keep well before our vision as present war clouds again surround us."
Chester Beach put it well but what were the old men and the young men to do when young men far away were being led towards war by their leader?
Struck by the Medallic Art Company of New York, the reported production quantity of this medal is 941 in bronze and 100 in silver.