Brockton High School - Brocktonia Yearbook (Brockton, MA)

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Our government is trying desperately by providing, now, for post-War living to Ward off the calamity of depression and unemployment which has marked our previous wars. At present there are innumerable bills before both houses of Congress to provide higher education, unemployment benefits, hospital care, and business loans for our returning veterans. No stone will be left unturned in our attempts to restore normal living. The problem of peace which is today troubling our World leaders will soon be a personal problem for all of us. Our class motto, Youth our claim, peace our aim, establishes a goal for us to reach. Great responsibilities and many weighty problems are involved in the successful attainment of this goal. This peace must be fair and just to all people-personal prejudices will have to be forgotten. This peace must, above all, be lasting! After studying conditions and drafting plans, we must back them up with force and determination. At the present, most plans for future peace are indefinite, since the business of War is so pressing and urgent. lt is quite evident, nevertheless, that We must be thinking sanely and seriously of the problems after this War. We of this graduating class are very young in vision, but we are strong in faith-faith in our fellow-students, our leaders, and, above all, in ourselves. We know only too Well the grave responsibilities which are ours-the winning of the War, the winning of the peace. The way will be long, and many obstacles will have to be overcome along that journey. Perhaps many times We shall question the advisability of continuing to plod along this way in a seemingly vain search for victory. But we will fight on. The deeds of our forefathers are a shining example of valor and fortitude. lt will not be this youth who will break tradition. We accept this long, hard way. We accept it with a clear light in our eyes and a strong courage in our hearts. And We shall go on to Victory, God Willing! 28

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CLASS ORATION '7fae R ' ' ' of Tfaadfn By MARY l... CUTTER Today in World War ll, youth plays the title role. Never before in the history of the world has the fate of so many people rested on such young shoulders. This global war is a direct challenge to us, the American youth, to fight for all the oppressed nations and in addition, to fight for ourselves, io preserve our own ideals. As General Sherman said, War is hell! That is undeniably true, but since the iniquitous burden of the human race has been placed on us, we have the golden opportunity to go out and prove the skill and valor of youth. ln the past two or three years, most of us have had an impersonal, indirect, connection with the war. Presently, the war will be our personal business. The future of this graduation class is already charted. The boys will soon be num- bered among Uncle Sam's fighters. Military leaders are clamoring for eighteen- year-old youths, since speed and endurance are most important factors in the final outcome of this world contest. The girls will be going away to college or taking advantage of the wider industrial fields now open to them. We shall no longer be piloted by doting parents and teachers-we shall begin to mold our own lives. lnevitably, many perplexing problems will confront us-problems which we will have to solve for ourselves, whether we're fighting in a foxhole, caring for the wounded in a base hospital, or working at the Red Cross center in our own city. Already American youth has honored itself and its country in the opening scenes of this world struggle. Our government, recognizing this fact, has offered to youth unequalled opportunities for advancement. In the rank and file of the U. S. Army and Navy today, exceptionally young officers are leading our men. ln a recent survey of Army officials over SGWJ were revealed to be under fifty years of age, and in a check-up of air generals 64? were found to be in their 30's and 4O's. These high officers have been awarded to youth for excellent physical and mental fitness. The responsibilities, which we are now about to shoulder, are of such a serious nature that they will tend to sober us and to hasten our maturity. This dread business of war calls for clear, logical planning. And the subsequent peace will be infinitely more demanding. Never before in the war history of America has so much money, time, and effort been spent in teaching both the young soldier and the civilian patriot a specific trade as his part in the war effort. In past wars, when men were drafted into service, they were simultaneously armed with a gun or other weapon and ordered to the battle lines. This new training, however, has reaped many dividends for the government, recognizable in the enormous increases in war production and the very successful military moves which have been undertaken. Not only does this vocational training hasten the war on to a United Nations victory, but it will decrease the post-war unemployment by giving each return- ing soldier a skill in some particular field. Already the government has estab- lished centers for the disabled soldier where he may get aid in his problems of readjustment. 27

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CLASS POEM '7fxe Jfope of '44 by WilliamIMacGowan ln the Prehistoric days, at the dawn of Earth's Creation, When the sun with regal powers Sent abroad o'er earth and sea its dazzling rays, The Asiatic rulers, with magic sorcery, Held the subject people in a slavish sway. Lo! from the jungles, From the forests in the Fifteenth Century, A. D., The traders brought the news, that a spark of light had risen, A guide to the book of learning By which the subject people could escape the Asiatic rulers. The world in the modern era has grown sleek with wealth, And learning no longer grows apacep But man has become a robot, with a mechanized, repulsive face, Though the vital spark of learning Still shines to guide the way. Today a fearful struggle between light and pagan rites, Is waging in the very jungles and deserts of old, Where the traders first heard the news that Civilization and Learning Had become the rule of earth. The fight in the jungles and deserts Grows fiercer day by day, But the soldiers who answered the call To free the light of learning, Will never let darkness fall. They will win the battles In the jungles and in the deserts too, Where the traders first heard the new Which rnust free A horror-stricken world anew. 29 s of the light of learning