Flemington High School - Memories Yearbook (Flemington, WV)

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 OUR NEED FOR FURTHER EDUCATION This is a momentous period in the history of mankind. The often-ridiculed professors, who supervised the greatest engineering job ever at- ctmpted by man, in one operation simultaneously ended the world's greatest end most terrifying armed conflict and opened new doors by which man nay enrich life or destroy it completely. Unfortu- nately, man's sociological advances hove not kept pace with his technological achievements. Technological progress during the war encrease lj tremendously. The recent war was a conflict of machines. Victory was assured by a combination of technical knowledge and practical application of scientific methods. Colleges and universities ♦' throughput the country participated in training untold thousands of technicians in cooperation with the Armed Forces. Never before in the history was the value cf education mere ably demonstrated. Not only did this result in the famous American know how in industry but it was also reflected in com- bat. Mass education in the decadent democracies as contrasted to the supposedly unerring methods of the dictator powers produced the fighting men and means which dramatically ended the war by the cli- maxing effect of the Atomic Bomb. The victorious warriors are now bock on America's main streets. With demobilization practically completed, the returning servicemen possess an opportunity to continue higher education under the G.I. Bill of Rights. These battle-experienced veterans, who have carried the American Flag to the very cut- posts of civilization, will be older, more experi- enced and wiser than the average high school graduate. This will present nrt only a competitive field but will be an inducement for more intensive study on the part of the ycunr graduate. We are assembled tonight in a commencement program. As the word implies, it does not signify the ending of our education; it rather forcibly indicates that we are on the threshold of ever

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k. I ■ broadening horizons in the competitive battle of life. Time was when a high school education was a respected accomplishment; now it provides nothing more than the bare minimum educational requirement of everyone. However, the value of the benefits obtained in our past four years of schooling will largely determine the basis human precepts; our heritage has instilled us with democratic ideals; and finally we have been equipped with the funda- mental educational means by which we may grasp hands with the more than ever unpredictable future. Will we be able to compete successfully for jobs in this very specialized age? With thousand of ex- servicemen returning to college campuses it will be necessary for us to continue our education extensively; otherwise there will be no basis for competition. Among the innumerable questions posed before us tonight as we leave these premises— the rank and fild as well as the potential leaders of tomorrow—is the highly important controversial subject of perserving the peace. V ill we be able to meet this challenge? The postwar wonder world of electronics, television, plastics and atomic power will be an idle dream unless the people of the world can learn to live together peacefully. The United States emerged from the war the most powerful nation on earth. It will be up to us to set an example for the rest of the world. This calls for a sound and firm foreign policy on our part. Only by an intel- ligent and enlightened public can America’s future leadership among the family of nations be assured. The price of victory for us is not only measured in dollars and cents, which alone was enough to s stager the imagination, but also in the moral and economic responsibility which we must accept. We were born during an age of constant mecha- nical progress which caused us to develop the delusion that the world automatically improves Vifc- -A-—3k—v r