Houghton College - Boulder Yearbook (Houghton, NY)

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Edt' T happened before only we weren't there. We read about it from books and is slipped from our minds carelessly. This time it was different. It was the youth of to- day that was going into this actuality in which we were to take part, in which we were to kill and be killed, in which there was no joy, only sorrow to all concerned, in which there could never be found justice. War was still war and the call came. Each dawning of a new day brought with iary it the loss of one or more of the fellows-not just one more human mechanism departing, but one more life, one more personality, one more friend going out into the great devasta- tion beyond. First .lohnny went south and then overseas. It wasn't long until Dick, and Harry, and Dave, and all the rest followed in his footsteps. From then on so many of the fellows have gone that l've lost count of them, but they are not forgotten. Every time l walk the halls, I see Johnny or Dave walking ahead

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VUE JM THIN H341 wu m 1 ,

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of me, haunting me with the pleasant, and yes, the sad memories of the past-that night when Dave wandered by me blinded with tears that he could not suppress after little Ted had passed away, that winter evening when Johnny, all covered with snow, burst eagerly into my room to tell me that Mary had said '4Yes,', that night when Harry was hoaxed by a gang of girls, that night when Dick and Betty took that last long stroll down the silvery lane arched by the great elms beneath the full moon before he was sent overseas-Betty walks alone now. l recall these scenes in the vaguely shrouded past which is ever before me as I tramp the lonely halls and the wooded hills. We settled many of our problems to- gether here, and now we will settle this great issue over theref, We are left behind to await our turn, but even now Harry and Dave and all the rest are out on the far-flung frontiers fighting- hghting for their freedom, their homes, their lives, and yes, for your life and for mine. They did not want to go, but when the nation arf' fit' called, they readily envisioned that call as a moral obligation to join their comrades who were already on the battlefields fighting amid their own blood and sweat to keep their covenant with those who have already sacri- ficed their lives- that these dead shall not have died in vainf' These fellows left their college life behind, perhaps never to return. They subjugated their personal ambitions to repay in part the great debt which they owed to their country, the country which had afforded them ulife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? They answered that call bravely as well might we, and they shall not fail for within their breasts, hope has been rekindled as they look on high toward their ideal. It is to you, Harry, and Dave, and Dick, and Johnny, and to all the other fellows like you, who are your friends and our friends, and who have gone out from Houghton College to serve in the armed forces of our nation, that we dedicate the 1943 Boulder, with our deep- est gratitude for your service in our behalf. fit' add' 'kit'