English High School - Blue and Blue / Record Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 14 text:

English High School in Wartime The school regiments are seen lined up on Warren Avenue in the annual Memorial Day observance. In the words of the English High School Memorial Tablet: The English High School acclaims her sons who have faced death for their country in the wars of the last hundred years. Hundreds of servicemen on furlough have visited their Alma Mater this year. Here Captain John Jones, ' 36, of the Army Air Force signs his name in the visitors ' book. He has returned from thirty-five missions overseas, the winner of combat medals and citations.

Page 13 text:

n Appreciation ' I HE ending of the present school year will mark the completion of Mr. Walter F. Downey ' s thirty-fifth year of devoted service to The English High School . . . For twenty-three of those years he has guided the destinies of the school in his position as Head Master . . . High honors, civic and professional, have come to him during his career . . . He returned to us in September, 1943, after having held the office of Commissioner of Education of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts . . . His name is known and respected throughout the entire country as being one of the most distinguished in his profession . . . And yet, and to us this is the full measure of our Head Master ' s devotion to English High, even on the busiest days of the school year, at an early hour in the morning, throughout the school day, or late into the afternoon, his office door is always wide open in a welcome to the boy who would seek counsel, to the serviceman on furlough from the stark realities of war, to the parent who feels baffled by problems arising out of prevailing conditions . . . Mr. Downey has striven masterfully to interpret or us and fo us the mis- sion of our school in the world of education, what The English High School stands for, and what it is: Not a building broad and high, Turrets pointing to the sky; Not a system hard and cold; Not a pen for sheep in fold; But a spirit, sweet and fair, Breathing consecrated air, Wearing robe of spotless hue. Bearing banner blue and blue. The boys of the Class of 1945 respectfully pay tribute to a loyal friend, unflagging in his zeal to do everything in his power at all times to help each and every one of his boys toward the goal of honor and achievement in life.

Page 15 text:

Head Master Walter F. Downey pre- sents the English High School Service Honor Medal to Technical Sergeant Andrew E. O ' Brien, ' 42, AAF. Sergeant O ' Brien has completed thirty bombing missions and has been awarded the Air Medal. Backing Fighting English. War Bonds totaling $14,775 were purchased at E. H. S. during our 6th War Loan Drive, December 12, 13, and 14. The boys who are about to invest in bonds are, left to right: Howard F. King, ' 47; John K. Costain, ' 47; Henry J. Abdelmaseh, ' 47; and Eugene M. Rossman, ' 47.