Petersburg High School - Missile Yearbook (Petersburg, VA)

Page 15 text:

By Anne Frank LINTON Brooks Kirby, Lt. U. S. N., 37, died here today at 1:15 P. M. in the Academy Hospital - A due to injuries received when his house burned last Friday night. He had been entertaining a group of Sea Scouts at his home at the Naval Academy. The fire, caused by a short circuit, spread rapidly, and a Sea Scout, Wallace Hughes, Jr., was trapped on the second floor. Without hesi- tation Lt. Kirby rushed into the blazing house and rescued the boy. Both collapsed at the foot of the C5 A U W -Q? -QfJ '1.lHi Ubi Illustrated by William Crowder Hill l if - I: al' 1' errneu, A ' ir - iq? U lviyr G . gfff V' f f ,.-. ff ,, ,4f,,,,,4n '.,fL ..-.,.., ,,.... ...,Am,,,.,:g W 1 .-Are... .---- mgmllllll'IYgQllg.!Am1 ' .J .1 . ' a'a' f c,-- ii, burning stairs and were brought out by a fireman, John Shantz. They were immediately taken to the Academy Hospital. Kirby, born in Norfolk, Virginia, was left an orphan at the age of 11. At the orphanage he became an intimate friend of Wallace Hughes, the father of the boy whom he saved. Kirby and Hughes, by their own merits, gained entrance to the United States Naval Academy in 1911. Kirby was graduated from the Academy in 1915 with high honors. At the outbreak of the war Kirby and Hughes were made aides to Admiral H. P. Denton. On the afternoon of October 1st, 1917, an unidentified Austrian spy discovered by Admiral Denton rooting through his papers, was threaten- ing the admiral with a small hand grenade when Kirby and Hughes en- tered. Seeing that escape was impossible, the spy started to throw the bomb at Admiral Denton. Both Kirby and Hughes leapt at the Austrian and caught his arm. The grenade fell to the floor, and in the explosion, Hughes and the spy lost their lives, Kirby was seriously injured, and the admiral escaped with a few minor fiesh wounds. Due to these injuries, Kirby was forced to retire from active duty in the Navy, devoting himself to teaching at Annapolis. THE MISSILE Pageeleven

Page 14 text:

Verses By Julian Rocks, Jr. To Amelia Earhart You once ilew high above the land and seas, So like a bird Who loves to fly and wings Its way upon the lightest hidden breeze To seek a better view of earthly thingsg The clear blue sky was native to your heart, And all the lands you touched were somewhat linked By your sweet love that never shall depart, Not even from the stars that to you winked. We searched the deep Pacific of her space, And islands where no living beasts reside, But never did we find your smiling face Which in my mind is now and will abide, But you have gone above Where angels sing To fly with them upon your silver Wing. Thoughts of the Sea I love to stand upon the massive wharf, And see the splashing surge upon the seas, And hear the sucking, clucking, breaking waves As they react to every blowing breeze. It brings upon my mind a long desire To lug the lapping sail into the wind, And feel the lurching, jerking, sturdy wheel, Whenever the ship ascends upon the brine. I love to hear the seafowl's crying voice Above the slender, sldping, slimy reef, And when these thoughts upon my mind recur, I hurry home to bring my heart relief. Page ten THE MISSILE

Page 16 text:

Here on March 22, 1920, he married Martha Denton, the admiral's daughter. He is survived by his wife and two children, Marian, aged 8, and Walter, aged 6. His will, made only last week, bequeathed two-thirds of his estate to his wife and children and one-third to Mrs. Florence Hughes and Wal- lace Hughes, Jr., the wife and son of his old friend. The funeral, which will .... Si! if 1 Ik Florence Hughes stopped reading. She was thinking of her own life. Her life had really begun the day that she had first seen Wallace. She could still see him bending over her little dog at which several bad boys had been throwing stones. He had Walked home with her, and a natural friendship had blossomed forth. She remembered the thrill she had had at the thought of going to Annapolisg then she was thereg and then, June 26, 1917, their wedding day. It had been a simple wedding with only a few friends. Wallace had had to leave the next week, and that was the last time she ever saw him. It was only a few months later that he had been killed. Then the baby had come. Florence smiled, she had always been so proud of him, he was so like his father, loving the sea and every- thing connected with it. He had become a Sea Scout, admired and Well- liked by all of his many friends. So much so, in fact, that he was unani- mously chosen by his troop of Sea Scouts to represent them at Annapolis. This abruptly brought her back to the present. She remembered the telegram telling of Wallace's injuries, and urging her to come immediatelyg the hurried preparations and the all-night flying. Then the hospital and her child-he hadn't recognized her-waiting painfully for news and finally receiving a good report and knowing that he would recover, then being ushered into Clinton Kirby's room. The shades had been drawn when she had entered. Kirby had told the nurse to go and had asked Florence to sit down. She had obeyed, and as she had started to thank him, he had raised his hand weakly. Please, Florence, he had said thickly. She had stopped, wondering, and then she had looked at him closely. Her heart had leapt into action and clamored to be let out. Her blood had frozen, and yet it was coursing through her veins with the speed of a bul- let. Her lungs had achedg she was afraid to breathe and her head had held a million riveting machines. Pagetwelve THE MISSILE