Maynard High School - Screech Owl Yearbook (Maynard, MA)

Page 14 text:

12 THE SCREECH-OWL Stop thinking, Ardelle, and listen to the good advice Doctor Butler is giving you! Funny he doesn’t wear glasses. He’d look more like a teacher. I’m laughing again! I feel silly. Oh yes, thanks, I’ll have a piece of gum.” Poor Doctor Butler is trying to talk, and peo- ple are still walking in — students from out of town. He doesn’t seem to be getting impatient though. That was funny! He just remarked that something new had been added. I wish that tall girl in front of me would stay on one side of her seat. Every time she shifts, I shift to the opposite side. It must look funny to see us all shifting at once all the way up the row. No, I didn’t go to the show last night. Did you?” Here come some more students. Poor Doc- tor Butler. Yes, he is interesting.” There is one of those new jackets. I think I’ll buy one. They are advertised in Jordan’s for $16.00. I’ll have to save $2.00 more. Whoops! There goes the bell and Doctor Butler has just sat down. I’m clapping for all I’m worth. Everybody is flocking over me. Yes, I thought it was very good.” In fact I thought too much. Ardelle Kane, ’47 Killing of Caesar While preparing my oration about the pas- sage of a law dealing with sanitation in Rome, little did I realize what a sight I was about to see in the course of a few minutes. Since I knew of the banishments of Metel- lus’s brother, Publius Cimber, there was no doubt in my mind why Metellus had gone for- ward to Caesar and had fallen on his knees be- fore him. However, it did bring a question to my mind when both Cassius and Brutus went forth also. Before another minute had passed, there were seven men standing around Caesar. In their talking with him, I came to the con- clusion that something was wrong. Then a thought crossed my mind; it was the Ides of March. Terror filled my heart; but then I thought it was silly to be so superstitious. Suddenly I saw Casca rise and rush toward Caesar, followed by the seven others. There was a great deal of confusion, and everything was hidden from my eyes as the white togas of the men blotted out the scene. I rose from my seat, and, to my horror, below the statue of Pompey lay Caesar, lifeless. My mind went blank. I didn’t know which way to turn. After a brief pause, I saw Brutus come be- fore the Senate. He told us not to be alarmed, for Rome had been freed through the death of Caesar. Upon hearing these words, I left immediate- ly for my home, too shocked to realize that I had witnessed the assasination of a great man. Albert Goodrich, ’47 Nothing Will Stop the Army Airforce The white clouds flashed past a rocket-armed P. 51 as the pilot climbed for altitude, heading toward the sun. The blue sky dotted with white clouds seemed quiescent in the morning sun. On every side of his pursuit ship, bombers and escorts had their nose point- ed upward to gain altitude. This flight of planes had been ordered to bomb one of the Jap-held islands in the Pacific Ocean. Radio si- lence was ordered because they wanted it to be a surprise raid and only in emergencies is the rule broken. As the planes left the coast and flew out to sea, they were attacked by slick, highly-maneu- verable Zeros, with a large red circle painted on each fuselage. The bombers stayed on their course, while the fighters broke formation to engage the enemy. Two Zeros came diving down on Lt. Bob Nolan, who brought up the rear to guard the bombers from a sneak at- tack, which the Japs use the most. Small streaks of flame could be seen shoot- ing out of the enemy’s wings, and the bullets began to chip Bob’s tail. Bob pulled the stick

Page 13 text:

THE SCREECH OWL 11 hallucinations or feeling the after-effects of his recent experience. Surely he must be going insane, for he knew the lighthouse had been abandoned for years. Why then the mysterious light flashing on and off? In his weakened condition, did he dare investigate this myster- ious light or should he wait for a rescue party that was bound to arrive sooner or later? His thoughts were stopped short when he heard a voice, a very curt commanding voice, speaking in a foreign language. The startling realiza- tion came to him — it was the German language that he heard. There were Germans in the lighthouse, and they were sending code by the flashes of light from the tower. How many were there? Did he dare to capture them? There was a sudden thud as he slipped and fell on the slippery rock. It was so loud that the Germans overheard and came running out of the lighthouse, fourteen of them all told. As the lone survivor picked himself up, he grabbed for his gun, which he knew was useless because it had been soaked thoroughly by the salt water. When the Nazis saw a man coming toward them they raised their arms and yelled in broken English, Ve sarrender, kamerad!” The American, shocked to the extent of speech- lessness, just nodded his head in the direction of the nearby lighthouse. The Germans filed through the door and lined up against the wall. Evidently they thought they were going to be shot, for one young sailor yelled, Don’t kill us! Ve vill dell all! Ve surrender, ve your kamerad. The lone American just looked, gritted his teeth, and, keeping one eye plus his gun on the Germans, he commenced to search the room and the rest of the lighthouse. It was then he discovered that the Nazis were out of provisions and that they had mount- ed in the tower a powerful light run by small batteries collected from flashlights. Upon fur- ther questioning of one of the men, the Ameri- can learned that the Germans’ submarine had been hit about two years ago. The only sur- vivors were those he saw before him. They had been living in the Jagged Reefs Lighthouse ever since and subsisting on seagulls, fish, rain water, and what provisions they had managed to steal from the fishing village when they formed raiding parties and went ashore. On stormy nights the men turned the light on in the tower and flashed code out to sea, hoping that some German sub or ship would pick it up and rescue them. Just as the German finished his story, a whistle could be heard in the distance; it was a Coast Guard rescue ship in search of the Navy demolition squad. The lone survivor ordered one of the Germans to flash the tower light on. Upon seeing it, the rescue ship came to investigate and found the American sailor holding the Germans at bay with a useless gun. As in all happy endings, the hero, who was in this particular story the lone survivor, re- ceived a medal, and the mystery of the light at Jagged Reefs Lighthouse was solved. Shirley Bain, ’45 None But the Wandering Mind The door of the auditorium swung open and in we all flocked, spreading in all direc- tions in order to secure our places. Not par- ticular, of course! Just a certain row, certain seat (by the radiator where it’s warm), and by a certain friend. That’s not being too particu- lar now, is it? Whoops, somebody just dropped his books in this mad rush. Pick them up, fellers; its your duty. It’s a fast moving world, that’s sure. It seems that way right now anyway. Is everybody happy? Mr. Mullin has put up his hand, and an- nounced that the Lord’s Prayer and salute to the flag will open the daily exercises. It certainly has quieted down ! Mr. Mullin is now intro- ducing Doctor Butler from Boston University. He is a neat-looking man of about forty-five years, and has a gray suit on. It looks very good with his black hair. I can hear him dis- tinctly right now. He has a very good speak- ing voice. I’m laughing because everybody else is, I guess. Laugh and the world laughs with you. Say, does that proverb fit in there?

Page 15 text:

THE SCREECH OWL 13 until it touched his stomach and his plane res- ponded in a looping dive. He pulled out of his dive when he was certain he had shaken the Zeros off his tail, and then climbed for alti- tude. He got on the tail of one Zero, and when his sights were on it, he squeezed the trigger gently. Smoke came out of the rear of the plane and suddenly it exploded. Every- where in the sky around him planes were div- ing, smoking and falling towards the ground. Bob searched the sky, looking for another victim. Off in the distance he saw a Jap plane heading for its base, and he decided to chase it. A Zero is fast but a P. 51 is much swifter. Suddenly a thought entered his mind which held him confused for a moment. Where had the Zeros come from? Their nearest base was at least a thousand miles away. There must be a carrier or a small island near here which the Japs were using as a base. Bob decided to trail the Zero. Fifteen minutes later he saw the plane dive toward the sea. Following closely, he saw spread out over the area Japanese ships of every des- cription, carriers, destroyers, battleships, and troopships — A Jap task-force heading toward the Marianas. The Japs began shooting at him with their deck guns. He dived at one aircraft carrier and released two rockets, which smashed the flight deck to pieces, shattering two planes on the deck. Diving through the flak again, he released his two bombs. Both of them dropped into the open plane elevator and split the car- rier in half. The ship sank slowly and the panicky crew jumped over the side like the rats they were. His heart leaping with joy, he headed for home. Suddenly his motor sputtered and coughed and he began to lose altitude. He was out of gas, darn the luck. He had been so busy and preoccupied with the Japs that he had forgot- ten about everything else. Bob skillfully man- euvered his ship into a pancake landing on the rolling sea. Before he had time to get his life raft, the Jap carrier came alongside and hoisted him to the deck. A derrick pulled his plane aboard and then two heavily-armed sailors grabbed Bob roughly by the shoulders and pushed him toward the Captain’s office. The commander, a slant-eyed, fat little Jap with large buck teeth smiled evilly at Bob and dismissed the guards after they had disarmed him. So you are the brash young American who sank our sister carrier. You will pay for that and so will all you Americans. We are going now to attack the Marianas and recapture it. We will not retreat anymore; we shall advance.” He laughed loudly and rang for the guards, who seized Bob and took him below to a cell. Bob was furious and helpless. He paced the small, damp cell trying to figure out a method of escape. All night long Bob racked his brain for some method which would help him to warn the base. That night the guard brought Bob a bowl of rice and a pitcher of water. Bob watched him like a cat, waiting for a careless move, but the Jap never took his eyes from Bob or his hand away from the butt of his Luger. After the guard left, Bob decided on a plan that was both desperate and dangerous. The next night he took off his heavy woolen flight jacket and rolled it up in his sleeping blanket. Then he put it on his bunk, took off his heavy boots, and hid behind the door. After what seemed like hours, he heard the footsteps of the guard coming down the hall, then the rattling of the key turning in the lock. He waited tensely as the guard opened the door and peered in cautiously before entering. He placed the food on the floor near the bunk, but as he did so Bob crept up behind him and slammed him on the head with his boot. Quick- ly picking up the guard’s Luger, he crept up the stairs. Ducking in the shadow as two sai- lors drifted by on night watch, he slid into a cabin at the end of the passage way. As he saw a Jap officer with his back to the door, put- ting on a flying suit, he crept up behind him and hit him over the head with the barrel of his gun; then he climbed into the flying suit himself and put the goggles over his eyes.