Christopher Columbus High School - Anchor Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

Page 32 text:

JOHNNY CCMES MARCHING HOME I doubt if the war ever touched our family as much as it did when my brother, Iohnny donned the uniform of one of the armed forces. Then during the war there had been letters, cheery, hopeful ones. But letters could never fill the gap which his absence left. Now Iohnny is coming home. After so many years of fighting in distant places that used to be just funny names on a map, Iohnny is coming home! He has never known what it has felt like having a service star in the big front window, facing the porch instead of a teasing, jolly brother who often helped with the dishes or with my geometry. I know Iohnny probably has changed but so have we. Materially we might all look a bit different. I've begun to wear my hair in an upsweep. Dad's even balder than ever and Mother's hair has turned grey. L X f 7 A Wifi A , I VV 28

Page 31 text:

SENIORS IN SERVICE Acampora, Angelo R. U. S. Army Burdett, Albert U. S. Coast Guard Chillingworth, Thomas U. S. Navy Curto, Daniel U. S. Navy Gill, Herbert U. S. Navy Hoeymans, Raymond U. S. Marine Koehler, Richard Navy Lampel, Arden U. S. Army Mackin, William I. U. S. Navy Marmo, Nicholas U. S. Navy Mazzocco, Ralph V. U. S. Navy Munoz, Francis U. S. Coast Guard Raab, Warren G. U. S. Navy Reale, Donald U. S. Coast Guard Romano, Charles I. Marines Stein, Eugene U. S. Navy Winogrand, Garry U. S. Army

Page 33 text:

But I'm sure it won't matter to Iohnny. All he wants now is to be home with his family. He has gone through a number of battles and was wounded. While he was gone, we never gave up hoping, hoping that some day soon we would all be together again. When that day comes, I shall rejoice. There will be a grateful prayer on my lips but inside I'll be thinking about those men who will never return to their families. Why didn't God spare them too? We might all be thinking that too, and oifering a silent prayer. Iohnny will have changed too. He will stand straight and tall but he will be quieter than he was. He may be different outwardly but we know he is the same Johnny who left us to serve his country. After dinner we will all gather around the fireplace in the living room and talk and exchange reminiscences. I'll ask Iohnny if he remembers the time he fell into the brook and Dad had to pull him out. He might laugh and tease me about the time I played a witch in the school play and how I cackled like a hen Qso he saidj. Or he might not talk much at all. He might merely sit and listen to us, trying to convince himself that he was really home at last. I won't care how he acts, I'll be so happy that he is back with us and not on a battlefield half way around the world. When Iohnny comes home, it will be the end of a long period of loneliness for all of us. For him it will be the beginning of a new life at home. He will do things that he has done all of his life and was forced to leave. I know he will be glad to reestablish his life as he never thought he would again. IOAN G. HARING 29