St Thomas High School - Retrospect Thomasonian Yearbook (Braddock, PA)

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The THOMASONIAN ------- -- — ---- REVEREND DONALD O’NEIL •Assistant

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REVEREND FRANCIS SHIELDS Pastor

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( I a s s 111 s t o r if Remember Music is a subtle accompanist for reminiscing, and the soft waltz strains of this ever-popular tune begin to awaken memories for me—memories of the four years our class has spent together. It is ever thus that when standing on a new threshold one looks back to survey the past and recapture a few highlights that will be hidden away in a little pocket of the mind, to be taken out from time to time in the years to come and polished up—as it were. The highlights of the past four years are very bright —so much that it will take years to erase them, because they reflect the daring colors of the world's canvas and echo the stirring strains or martial music. I remember September, 1940, when a varied assortment of boys and girls presented themselves at St. Thomas as first year high school students. I remember the shy glance and uncertainty of some; the assurance of others; but above all —the newness. We are entering a new age, even as the world was, because war cauldrons were then boiling and seething and beginning to spill over all the earth. Our interest was centered only in initiations, declensions, and new friends. We witnessed an unprecedented Presidential election, when Roosevelt was elected for a third term. We had a debating team that year, and the subject seemed rather co-incidental — The Power of the Federal Government. Our first year was over. Complacency ruled over us The ushering in our Sophomore year, came Pearl Harbor with its never to be forgotten treachery. Grim, silent people heard, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, our declaration of war on Japan. At school we worked laboriously over the intracacies of Caesar's Gallic Wars, nevar at the time thinking of its striking similarity with the antics of the Berlin house painter. Our Sophomore year was plainly marked by the absence of social events. We returned in September, 1942, as Upperclassmen, decidedly self-approved. We skipped through parties and dances, and trudged through ex ims. In the attempt to work along with the patriotic efforts of our country, the school sponsored a bond drive in connec • tion with the Third War Loan. Our class went all out for the idea, selecting a Victory Queen and scouring the town for prospective bond buyers. To our complete satisfaction pur class won. We rounded out the year by giving the traditional Prom. The finger of war touched our class for the first time, calling upon one of our boys, the first of a long line to follow. Quite suddenly we found ourselves Seniors. How seemingly long the years had been while looking forward to the fined term, and how quickly it arrived. The year marked startling world events, with the invasion of Africa and Italy the most outstanding. These victories meant only that many stalwart youths of the nation would have to do their part to bring about a longed-for peace. The boys from our class were no exeception. Several left for service. With our ranks rather sparse, the glorious day finally arrived, bringing to a climax a somehow momentous record. To review the history of our class is to review the history of the world, indeed. Our school memories will not be those of proms and parties, football and basketball games, beaus and best girls; it is inevitable that they will be memories of the appalling events of a sickened but brave world—events that have touched even the most significant of us. Our history as a class is not finished; it is being woven into the history of the world, and each of us will be a part of the pattern—a pattern fashioned under God's help, for freedom, for peace and for God. Remember.