Natick High School - Sassamon Yearbook (Natick, MA)

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lo 'l' H li S A S S A Nl O N ln a country such as ours, there is no reason why we should not carry the torch of faith so that all may see it. Our Constitution is so constructed as to huild faith. It gives us in hlack and white, many reasons why we are the most fortunate people who inliahit the earth. XYhen you reconsider the events that have occurred during the past two years, don't you find that the American way of living is the only way for you. and havcn't you in thoughtful moments, asked yourself what you could tlo to make the ideals of American Democracy a reality? Faith makes men. Never has this heen more sell-evident than in the present strife. Amt-rica's heroes like Captain Colin Kelly may he killed, hut their faith will not he stopped even hy death.. General Douglas lVlacArthur upon arriving in Australia said I will keep the soldiers' faith! Now today while American men are fighting for Democracy thev must have a deep-rooted conviction that the battle which they are waging is worth fighting. 'lihis conviction will not grow out of hearing long-winded political speeches. It will come through the belief that this war must be won if the American ideals for which our forefathers sacrificed their lives are to be pre- served. Youth will do its part to bring us ultimate victory. 7 V Frank Mussoni

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THE SASSAMON 15 It is because every person living on this chosen land can say those three simple words, I am free, that we have faith that God will not forsake us in our own hour of turmoil. We truly believe that we have a constitution and a government which is as perfect as man can create - that we are neither bondsmen nor serfs nor slaves. It is because of all this that every student of this class will never rest in the performance of his duties until America is once again blessed with an everlasting peace. The Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill, once said of the boys in the Royal Air Force after they had saved England from Nazi destruc- tion, Never in history was so much owed to so few. Truly do I believe that those same words will be said of the boys and girls who are about to pllt into practice the deep-seated concepts which have been imbued into all the youth of America. Never can America fail for never will our faith falter. All of our tradi- tions impress us with the need that former patriots have had for a victorious morale - we will have no less. Many of you are perhaps wondering what part faith has played in the formation of the United States. Let us go back to those days when our country was in its infancy. We were a young struggling nation of hardy frontiersmen whose only aim was to live peacefully with full expression of press, speech, and religion. Countless infringement of our ideals compelled us to declare our indepen- dence. To enforce our claims, stores of ammunition were concealed at Lexington and Concord. Highly trained mercenaries of the British government quaiters at Boston descended upon the few untrained and poorly armed Minute Men assem- bled to defend this ammunition. The battle that these men staged will be long remembered in history. With what did they fight? With superior arms? VVith better trained leaders? No, my friends, but with a faith so strong that it over-came all odds. Superior forces of British soon had the Colonial Armies at bay. VVash- ington was forced to retreat many times until his men were assembled at Valley Forge. While at Valley Fprge, the condition of his men was pitiable Not one in ten was properly clad for the rough winter and no one had a sufficient amount of food, but the faith that these men had in Washington and themselves. was so great that these conditions only made the victoryimore glorious. Today we are faced with a like situation. A treacherous foe has struck us in the hack. The taste of victory is dulled by the defeats, but the day of reckoning is not far in the future. If we will show our faith in the leaders and men who are so valiantly fighting the battle, this day will be only so much nearer. Lincoln felt that right would triumph over might in his execution of the Civil War. The North's faith was dimmed after the early defeats but with the decisive victory at Gettysburg, this dormant faith grew so strong that it was only a matter of time until the final and complete victory. The fact that the North was not a fair-weather country proves that we must have faith today. The first World War was fought to make the World safe for Democracy. As in all peace treaties, one side, the so-called vanquished, does not receive the fruits of victory. This bred a hatred and a despair in the vanquished nations. Thus it was not too difficult for Communism, Facism, and Nazism to rear their ugly heads. The men had lost faith in their old leaders and themselves. VVhen such hypocrites as Hitler and lVlussolini, promised them food for every meal, the people of these nations could not help but place their faith in these men. Little did they realize at the time that their faith had never been so ill-placed. Today we are fighting nations of men whose leaders have betrayed them. These leaders gave to the people but took back tenfold every iota that they leased. Mosse irisniure imnmv 14 EAST eemmi srmgr

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