Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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OAK, LILY AND IVY Vol. XXXV. MILFORD, MASS., JUNE, 1919 NO. 1. Published by the Pupils of the Milford High School BOARD OF EDITORS E(litor-in-chief, Alvin L. Pianca,’19 Assistant Editor, Elizabeth A. Santosuosso, ’19 Business Manager, William L. Ahern, ’19 Assistant Business Manager, Arthur H. Fitzgerald ASSOCIATE EDITORS Jennie L. Connors, ’19 Kenneth W. Henderson, ’19 Roger M. Perham, ’19 Subscription Rates: For the year, 50 cents. Single copies, 10 cents Address all communications to Oak, Lily and Ivy, Milford, Mass. Entered at the Milford, Mass., Post Office, as second class matter. AMERICA’S PART IN THE GREAT WAR Thankful indeed are we, the members of the class of 1919 , that we enjoy the good fortune to be graduated at a time when all signs point to a future of friendship and benevolence between the nations of the world. For the past four years, marring the joys of graduation, the shadow of the sinister figure of the ruthless Hun, hated for his cruelty, has darkened the paths of students departing from American institutions. Now no longer does this terrible menace threaten the world; no more does the dreaded Boehe practice his game of plundering and of murdering helpless women and children. Destroyed are the ambitious dreams of the selfish Kaiser, who now views his land not as the mistress of the world with himself as Emperor, but a crushed and disintegrated country: his people, suffering from want of food, fighting among themselves; himself, scorned and despised by all, forced to seek a foreign country for refuge unwillingly accorded. The deadly peril of imperialism has been utterly destroyed by the united nations of the world, linked together by the common bond, Democracy. Yet certain of these nations received their rewards for the destruc¬ tion of the Prussian military machine. England, though she entered the war upon the violation of Belguim’s neutrality, is only too glad that her dangerous trade rival has been crushed. Her commercial standing is no longer threatened by the rivalry of German-made products. She has likewise received certain African colonies rescued from German misrule. Poor, bleeding France, upon whose fields fought men of all races, was so suddenly stricken by the German hordes that she had scarcely time to send her men against the oncoming foe. But now at the end of all her suffering and loss of life she has been rewarded by the return of Alsace-Lorraine and the safeguarding by America and Great Britain of her security from a future German peril. As for Italy, she, too, has received a recompense for her aid against the gray soldiers of the Kaiser, as shown by the recent disclosure of the secret “Pact of London”, drawn up by England, France, Russia, and herself. Italy has always had in mind the repossession of the Trentino,

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GRADUATING CLASS, IC)I 9

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10 of Trieste, and of other lands long oppressed by Austria. And so it was with many of the nations allied against the common foe, each anticipating a certain gain from participation in the world conflict. But among these was one country who looked for no reward; one nation who fought with no hope of recompense, no desire for the acquisition of further territory, no fear of a rival nation. This was the United States of America. Once again did she show her love of liberty. In 1776 she fought for freedom from the tyranny of England. In 1866 she strove for the freedom of the Negro. But those were struggles in one country. In 1917 she fought for the freedom of the whole world. That the United States did not wish to enter the war was easily seen from her apparent ignoring of German atrocities. Though brand¬ ed a coward and despised by Germany, still she would not declare war. But at last her great patience was exhausted. The mute appeal of ravished Belguim and weeping France touched her heart. The bold declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare aroused he r anger. The last straw was reached when the Lusitania with numerous American citizens on board was sunk without warning. Immediately she pre pared for war, and so earnest, so energetic, so patriotic was her prep¬ aration, that nothing but disaster could be the hope of the Huns. Months before war was declared, she began the preparation of her navy, having realized the possibility of the entrance into the world con¬ flict because of the ruthless submarine warfare of the Germans. Her merchant ships were armed for protection against the U-boats and trained naval crews were placed in charge of the guns. This prepar¬ ation was called “an armed neutrality’ , but no sooner was war declared than the navy was put immediately on a war basis. Many more ships were built and so numerous were the enlistments that by the end of 1918, the number of men had increased three fold. It was this pre¬ paredness which enabled Admiral S ' ms to reply proudly, “We can start at once,” when he was questioned by the British commander concerning the preparedness of the American Navy. Then it was that the number of U-boat victims began to decrease. Then were Germany’s hopes of starving the Allies shattered, as an increasingly number of relief ships were enabled to reach Europe. But the greatest work was the trans¬ portation with the aid of allied vessels of over two million soldiers who made allied victory possible. With only six months training these men were pitted against a foe whose training extended to six years. There was much skepticism among the Allies over the conduct of the Americans in battle, but when the valor of this army was shown at Cantigny, the first town captured by the United States army, their fears began to lessen. Yet it was not until the terrible fighting about Chateau-Thierry that all doubts were forever removed. For it was there that the high tide of German mil¬ itarism after its final desperate effort to ruin France ended in disastrous and complete defeat. There the Prussian Guard, the pride of the German army, with six years of training, were pitted against the un¬ tried American Marines and doughboys. There the Huns, though har¬ dened by training and experience, were forced to accept defeat from novices, young men who were called from offices, from the work-bench, and from lives of idle ease, with but six months military training. Not only did these heroes resist the furious onslaughts of the Boches, but even forced them to retreat before their rapid counter-thrusts in utter