Paxton High School - Reflector Yearbook (Paxton, IL)

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30 Paxton High School Reflector Near a Half Hundred Other P. H. S. Students, Some of Whom Graduated Elsewhere ; Some of W horn Entered the Service Directly from the Class Room ; and Some of Whom for Other Reasons Did Not Graduate. Lieutenant Harold Anderson. Harold Anderson, after completing the major part of his high school course of study, entered Alton Military Academy in the fall of 1915, where lie completed the combined military and academic course in 1917. The open- ing of the first Reserve Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Sheridan in May, 191,, very naturally attracted his interest and attention. His application was accepted, and he immediately entered upon the strenuous training there At the close of the camp he was rewarded with a commission as Second Lieutenant and was assigned to the 13th Recruit Co.. lClst Depot Brigade, at Camp Grant. 111., where he now is. Like the rest of the boys, he is looking fo: ward to the time when the routine of cantonment study, drill and training sha.l give way to more active participation in the armed struggle to protect ana defend the institutions and principles of government and of humanity to which we adhere.

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Paxton High School Reflector 29 CAPTAIN HOWARD BUSHNELL, '03, ON THE TUSCAN I A—CABLEGRAM FROM SCOTLAND THAT HE WAS SAFE, RECEIVED TWO DAYS AFTER THE VESSEL WAS TORPEDOED BY GERMAN SUBMARINE. Howard Bushnell, who has the honor of heading the soldier list of P. M. S graduates in the time order of the classes, has now the peculiar distinc- tion of being the first to experience the shock and the horror of an attack I» on of those cruel, death dealing vipers of the sea—the German submarine. Fo. two days after the sinking of the Tuscania. having reason to believe Howard was one of the more than two thousand American soldiers and offi- cers aboard the ill-fated ship, it was feared that he might be numbered among those that were lost. Great, therefore, was the relief when word was received in Paxton that his wife at Clinton, 111., had received a cablegram an- nouncing that he had been landed safe somewhere in Scotland. Above pictures received too late to be properly placed with “write-ups.

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Paxton High School Reflector 31 Raymond Ernest. Raymond Ernest, had he been abe to remain in school until the pre- sent time, would have been a member of the 1918 graduating class, and his studious, reflective habits would have given him high rank. He, however, chose the life of a soldier and enlisted in the Regular Army in February, 191G. Very soon thereafter he was stationed with a divi- sion of the U. S. army at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. A very interesting let- ter from him was published in the Junior number of the Reflector last year. At that time he expressed the hope that he would be given a chance to strike a blow at the German menace, a wish and a hope that has been gratified, as he is now in France on or near the firing line. He is a member of the 9th Field Artillery. Leonard C. Aspergren. Leonard C. Aspergren. who for a number of years has teen employed by the Paxton Gas Company as bookkeeper and cashier, enlisted in the Regular Army early in November, 1917. He was called to the service on November 19th, having been assigned to the Headquarters’ Supply Co.. 5 h Field Battalion, Signal Corps at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas . He spent a few days of the holiday week in Paxton visiting his parents and friends. Ronald Archer. Ronald Archer enlisted in the U. S. Navy a few months before war was actually declared. He was assigned to Great Lakes Training School for several months before being assigned to a United State battleship. The latest reports available from him indicate that he is now in foreign waters, probably with Admiral Simms' fleet of submarine fighters. Chester Birkett. Cheater Birkett, of the Archer Birkett grocery firm in Paxton, en- listed in the Regular Army at the same time and in the same branch of the •service as Leonard Aspergren. His assignment was also the same, viz.: Headquarters Supply Co. 5th Field Battalion of the Signal Corps at Fort Leavenworth. For some time, it is reported, that the young men in th's branch or the service have been under instructions to be ready at all times for a call to entrain within 24 hours. They naturally anticipate a train journey to the coast, and from there an exciting, but it is fervently hoped, an unmolested sea journe to Sunny France. Frank Marsh Frank Marsh, a younger brother of Lieutenant Harry Marsh, so well and favorably known as a citizen and business man of Paxton, enlisted at Indianapolis, Ind., in the Regular U. S. Army soon after war was declared. After a period of intensive training at Garden Mills on Long Island, he was