Niles Junior High School - Milestones Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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Z'q'i 1 T .gewee ' . 1. is i 'O 02 X ff 'X fii' ' 5' aff by - YQJ I T ik 1- xv la ' T MOST of us have relafives in The service oT our counfry. On The following pages you will read abouf some of our own heroes. THE WAR AND DAD lT was The day before Thanksgiving and we were sTanding around him wiTh Tears in our eyes. ln his hand he held a card sTaTing ThaT OTTO Brummer had passed his h sical examinafion and was Thus qualified for service in The U.S. Army. IT also saijfhal' he was To re1oorT aT The inducTion cenTer on November 25. l942, and proceed wiTh a body of men To Grand Cenfral STaTion. Now The Time had come when my faTher would have To leave us for how long we did noT know. buT if iT was his wish To go who were we To sTop him. AfTer saying goodbye. he deparTed. leaving us for The firsT Time. The days following were noT very pleasanT. The whole family missed Dad Terribly and iT seemed ThaT everyThing we did reminded us of him. Then aT lasT a long awaiTed leTTer arrived. Anxiously. my mofher Tore o en The envelope and read aloud Tha+ he was in Camp Dix very homesick. buT oTEerwise all righT. ThaT was grand news To us and we felT like Telling The world. From Then on we received mail regularly and everyfhing wenT along fine. The younger fellows called him Pop because he was The oldesT privaTe There. One ChrisTmas Eve he goT a Thirfy-six hour pass and came home iusT in Time To Tix The Tree. We saw him once more and Then he was shipped To Cam Roberis. California, which is near San Francisco. Daddy wroTe ThaT he preferred 5aliTornia's sunshine To New Jerse 's cold and snow. WhiTe aT Camp RoberTs he gained TwenTy- five pounds which fillfed him ouT beauTifully. AT RoberTs he was in The Field Arfillery. He won quiTe a few medals for shooTing and afTer being in for a year, he received a medal for good conducT. LaTer he was senT To San Diego and soon privaTe became corporal. They also made him mail clerk for The five surrounding baTTalions. He said he enioyed This work buT iT kepT him busy especially around The holida s. Then one day in November we received The Tolibwing Telegram: EvacuaTe Navy and Marines. The Army is Taking over. Arrive Pen STaTion 3:30 P.M. 'Love and kisses for my Three girls. Dad. . ATTer a few hours The doorbell rang Three Times and in sTepped Pop looking beTTer Than he had looked in his whole life. We kepT him busy'visiTing friends and relafives and before we knew iT, a week had passed. He would have To leave us again buT This Time we knew he was well and had no cause for worry. He refurned To San Diego and resumed his job of mail man. A few weeks ago he Took his overseas physical exam wiTh flying colors. RecenTly he was Transferred To ForT Bliss, Texas. for overseas Training. Like all The resT, he is anxious To go over buT in his case There is The liTTle maTTer of age. The work is Tough and The hours long, buT for a man wiTh spiriT and endurance ThaT means noThing. We all hope and pray ThaT This conflicT will soon end so ThaT my Tafher and all your Tafhers. sons, broThers. and sweeThearTs can come home To enioy lasTing peace in This. our America. JUNE BRUMMERI 954 -9-

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IN THE NIGHT The school was dark and sTilI. Everyone was sleeping. YeT one's mind wasn'T peaceful any more. IT was noT so easy To go To sleep any more. There was always The Threafening Thoughf of The disasfer ThaT nighf mighf bring. In one of The large dormiTories of The boarding school I was sleeping. Suddenly I woke up wiTh a sTarT. The shrill howling of The air raid sirens cuT like a knife T rough The peaceful sfillness of The nighf. I was noT The only one To awake. The whole building became alive suddenly. Everyfhing began To move. There was a grabbing of gas masks, shoes and coafs. There was someone puffing on someone else's shoes. AnoTher one walked inTo a door. The confusion was greaf because lighTs were noT allowed during a raid even Though The windows were carefully blacked ouT. In a flash I was ready To go. I raced down To The second floor. To The room where some IiTTIe five year olds had been assigned To my care. I called oTf The lisT. They were sfanding in a line quieTly. calmly. while I made sure everyone was There. In no Time we were on our way To The shelTer. We finally goT seTTled on The cold damp floor of This shelfer wiTh noThing buT a blankef for warmTh and comforf. There we lay. crowded TogeTher noT only To find warmTh and because There was noT much room. buf also To gain courage. Affer a while The rumbling sTarTed. The whole house seemed To be shaking. IT was geTTing nearer every minufe. IT sounded as if The whole school was collapsing buT Then iT was always ThaT way. we whispered To each oTher. The rumbling grew louder. In The disfance I could make ouT explosions. The rumbling seemed To be righf above us now. Fear was beginning To creep Through me. IT The ofhers were afraid, They cerfainly didn'T say so. My friends and I crouched wiTh our heads down on The floor as if Trying To proTecT ourselves from somefhing ThaT happened rarely, buT mighf happen now We knew The only Time a shelTer was demolished was when a bomb fell To The ground wiThouT exploding, rolled To The shelTer and Then blew iT, up. Who couIdn'T be sure This wouldn'T be ThaT one occasion. Suddenly we heard a loud crash. IT musT have been very near for This Time The shelfer really shook. IT was followed by several almosf as loucl. Then iT suddenly became very quief. The rumbling became fainfer and fainfer, unTil iT gradually sfopped alTogeTher. The raid was over. Very slowly I walked up To my dormifory. The room was in greaT disorder. The mirror broken. and ofher Things bacliy Thrown around. By The nexf morning no one spoke of iT. IT was iusT an incidenT in whaT was becoming our usual roufine. This is a True experience. ' IRMA STERMER, 8A4 FOXHOLE TIME AT foxhole Time The siren sings We grab our helmefs. don our wings And fly To where iusf like a mole We dive inTo a four fooT hole. They've come and gone and now we know ThaT iT will be Three hours or so Before They chance To come again And in we go To waiT for Their men And while we waiT we sing a song To keep our morale good and sTrong ARLENE SCI-IARGAN. 9AR .. 3 -

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THE SADDEST DAY OF MY LIFE The saddesT and yeT The happiesT clay oT rn ThirTeen years was The day my TaTher came home Trom overseas. I was ever so glad To have him home again. buT iT you had only seen whaT I did, you would also Teel The same as I did. Pain. Yes. a pain in my hearT Tor someone I love dearly. I Dad is in The MerchanT Marine and had made TwenTy-Tour Trips. Usually The Trips were shorT. buT The one I am going To Tell you abouT Took one year and Two monThs. One evening as I was doing The dishes and when I was iusT abouT Tinished washing a plaTe. The door bell rang. I opened The door and a sailor Trom The MerchanT Marine asked if my name was UrquharT, I said. Yes. He said ThaT he' had-a surprise Tor me and he had. He Then helped my TaTher inTo The house. My TaTher looked one hundred years old. There were puffs under his eyes and his gray beard wenT down To his chesT. When we saw Dad before he leTT on his Iasj' Trip his hair was piTch black. buT now iT was gray on The Top and aT The Temples. He hobbled in Tor he had been hurT. I didn'T know him aT TirsT. Then I realized WGS my TaTher. THE ADVENTURES OF A MERCHANT SEAMAN ON A TRIP Five and a half monThs ago. my TaTher, a LieuTenanT Commander. leTT The STaTes Tor some unknown desTinaTion. IT was raining ThaT day which made iT all The drearier. My moTher implored my TaTher To Take his winTer uniTorm Thinking ThaT when he came back iT would be winTer. buT as you will learn. he reTurned in The spring. Where was he? you ask, and ThaT, Tellow sTudenTs, I will aTTempT To answer. Leaving New York. his ship Tormed a convoy wiTh oTher ships and seT sail across The ATIanTic. All was peaceTul and quieT. ATTer abouT one monTh. They reached GibralTar. You may wonder aT The IengTh oT Time iT Took, buT This is war and The ships had To do loTs oT zigzagging. One clay aTTer They IeTT GibraITar They were aTTacked by airplanes. Luckily only one ship was IosT. MosT oT The men on iT were saved. Though Tour oT our ships Took a ToTaI oT Three aircraTT, which seTTled The score. All was eaceful again. unTiI They reached Bone, Algeria, and deposiTed Their wares. They Then proceeded on Their journey To Naples. No sooner had They IeTT Bone when They were aTTacked again by aircraTT. This Time no ships were IosT and we Took one of Their planes. A day before They reached Naples They were aTTacked by whaT seemed To be an enemy U boaT . buT The sub was an American. This was The IasT episode- because our ships Then reached Naples and The journey back was noT dangerous. So They ThoughT-buT Things weren'T as peaceful as They seemed. Tor in Naples They were aTTacked again and again by Nazi planes buT our deTense baTTeries were Too sTrong Tor The MasTer Race . They were deTeaTed. So will we also deTeaT and deTeaT The enemies oT our democracy. BuT in order To do This. our soldiers musT have supplies and as my TaTher says. The only way They'Il geT ThaT is by your and my buying more War Bonds and STamps. ' U ROBERT POYDASHEFF, QA: SCIENCE OUIPS 9BR having been sTudying heaTing sysTems, was asked a quesTion by Mrs. Gourin. WhaT causes knocking in radiaTors? She asked. Why answered George Murray brillianTIy, The lady upsTairs. STudying on The reproducTion oT a Tish, Mrs. Gourin was Telling us ThaT shad- roe was considered a greaT delicacy. UVVI'I6'I'?H said -10-