Thomaston High School - Sea Breeze Yearbook (Thomaston, ME)

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SBA BREEZE 19 Mr. Banks, his friends, and teachers had watched and worked with this strange led. They had made him talk American, but ne- bedy--least of all Mr. Banks--knew how far they had succeeded. was he German at heart--or Am risen? Hens futher waited! Mr. Banks dreaded going to Harry Jeffers again without some comforting n-ws--such as cheering wer news--about his sen. All thet Hens seemed te have teken from his father was his artist e- bility. Hans, at eight, could draw pictures that were so start- lingly true et times that they must have been vivid portrayals of whatever need he happened to be in. These pictures were his only expressien. Host of the time he lived in an unusual silence es he was new. Jhile the others were excited or enthusiastic about something--their mouths open in gasp- ing attention, Hans just sat there in the second row, unnoving, un- blinking. Having noticed this, Kr. Banks realized suddenly, what he wanted nest ef all was to reech this boy. He eeuldn't even be sure the boy was listening. He sighed and brought his talk to an abrupt close. l Miss Lee took over. HAnd now,n she said with e bright smile, nsince it is our drewing period, I went ouch of you to drew seme- thing of what Hr. Banks was discussing. Try to show what his talk meant to yeu.n Mr. Banks was in his office en hour later, when Miss Lee came in. NI thought you would like to see these,N she said, handing over a pile of drgwinp pdpers. He took them and smiling, glanced through them carefully. Ther were the ictures that the children had drawn of the nallent J s 4.3 Philippines. Most of them were to the same general pattern-- varied ideas of jungle lands, with many soldiers and jutting guns, tanks and Jeeps and overhead planes dropping bombs, flags and an- bulences and else, Red Cross Nurses Qt work. Tommy Cooke hed e Filipino with a large battle in full sway--in the center was a curved knife, showing its use by the bodies of Japanese strewn around. Babe Riley had on American soldier machine-gunning o Jepanese. This wus e man-to-msn conflict. nlnteresting how ch1ldren's minds grow in four small ycars,n Mr. Banks commented. Then Miss Lee handed him another. nThis is Hans Joffers,n sho whispered, excitedly. Hr. Banks looked end studied it for a long time, then took off his glasses, wiped them and looked again. The warmth thnt was growing inside him took away his presumed idea of defeat and reached ahead to e worried father who lay sick on a hospital bed, waiting and hoping. Hans Jeffers had given one of his startling expressions of need. He had drawn the jungle very vividly,--as if nothing else ' mattered. But, best of ull, high in the sky, Hens had placed an eagle, an American eagle, fierce, conquering, with itls broad wings

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SEA BREEZE 18 Nlt is the wer news,N she told him, low. Then emphatically, UHow can we keep their ninds off it, when it is all they hear at heme?' Mr. Binks sighed, looked over the children thoughtfully. He knew them ell pretty well. He'd had them four years, had watched the stretching outbof their young minds, from kindergarten on. He knew their backgrounds, as well, for it was easy to learn in a shell town such as this was. Most.of them came from,good.hmerican homes. Only a few, as happens lnbeverp grade, stood out from the rest--three boys. A , There wus Tommy Cooke, whose father road everything radical, and talked of it cleverly. Tommy had thetlsame ability to absorb knowledge, but Mr. Banks was determined that he was going to make better use of it. p q , , 1 Y Just as Babe Riley would use his futher's fighting spirit to attain more than d broken ncse. The older Riley had been a prize fighter, and from him, Mr. Banks had learned several things. One wus--if you cdn't dodge d blow, you must take it. - Ho smiled faintly ut Miss Lee. UNell, if you cdn't keep them eff the wdr news, we'll have to nuke it serve our purpese,n and he faced the cless again. - 4 Mr. Binks had never been an eloquent nan, but today he spoke of the.gredt siege of the Philippines. He mace the telling simple. It was the story of MacArthur and his men. o As'Mr. Banks talked, his eyes searched the face of the third boy who stood out: Hens Jeffers, with his thin features and strange gray eyes, his'quaint manner that wus o curtd1n,between him and the rest of the world. Ulf only,N thought Mr. Banks, NI could find some faint glimmer ef interest in Hens, semethlng thdtfl could curry to his sick futher in the Veteran's Hospitdl.N Mr. Banks recalled his nany talks with Harry Jeffers, Han's father, who had seen a promising artist before the World war. The first talk last year. had been when Harry had brought Hans to enter school F . NI've nude an awful mistake about my son,N Harry had sdid, his thin dnrk face somewhat drawn. HI married his mother when I went back to Germans ten years ego to paint along the Rhine. May- 5 be that was d mistake too--my marrying so late, with my broken health--but she, Anna, is Harrj's hand clutched the Nazi. Believe me, I have 1 cldred his very lovoly.- Very sincere. Only,-- buck of a chair--she's all Gorman. Even tried to keep Hans American. I have de- citizensnip, but whut is'1nside him, I dcn't know! It's what I've,got to find outlu , . . . Harry had brought his family back to the United States when Hans was two, but Hurry had been in and out of veteren's hospitals so much that Anna hed sought her own people. She had seen that Hans played wlth other German speaking children and had even sur- rounded him.w1th German ways. All this had happened before Harry had reulized it.

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SEA BREEZE .20 spread. This was the symbol of America--the landahe had,eome to love. V A p , Q AQ Loraine Armstrong 534 t , get a Minute to Lose ,, ' ,. , ' At last, the day had come. John P. Jones, Second Class Sea- man, was on a crowded train headed for home. He had only four days leave, and two of th-t were used in traveling, but nothing bothered Johnny now. Home meant Ma and the kids, a soft hed, good food, and his best girl. ,Having thought about the trip so much, John hyd lost some sleep during the last few nights. Now he mode up for it. when the conductor yelled uThonaston,U he awoke with a start, looked out the window, grabbed his bag, and rushed for the door of tho train. ' Of course, everjone was there to meet Johnny. He was so glad to see all his pals again. They had everything planned. Because he had so much fun, the two days went like lightning. There were parties, movies, and dances--every minute was taken. At 1:00 P.M. on Tuesday afternoon, in the middle of a raging snow storm, John said good-bye to all his friends, Ma, and his best girl, and hopped on the train which would take him back to his base on time. His orders road, Expiration of leave 2400, Tues- day, January 12, 1945 ' As the train rocked along, Johnny slept.Q While he dreamed of all the fun he had had, he imagined himself still at hone, not in the Navy, but still working at the garage on the corner, not scrubbing the dock, but wiping the windshield of his old ja- loppy, or changing a tire, or fixing a headlight. Suddenly, the train stopped with a terrific jolt. Johnny came out of his seat with both fists flying--probably fighting with one of the fellows who tried to steal his girl back in Thomaston--. Awakened, he decided to find out why the train had stopped in the riddle of a field. The conductor told him that the snow had piled up end that the plow would be along in a couple of hours. Johnny thought, Uwell, that's okay, I can go back and sleep some more, but, hey, I gotta be at the base by mid-night, and I'vo only two hours to spare.U The plow came in an hour und a half, but the ro- mainder of the trip was slow, and so by the time the train pulled input the town where the Novy Base was situated, John had but five, short minutes to make the gate. UI can make it if I run like heck, and I gotta make it,N said Johnny aloud. He ran until he thought he would drop, faster and faster. UAh, the gate is still open. Hey, what's that down by the drydook? Three mon and therc's the guard all tied up. They'ro going tb blow up the ship in drydook. I just have to stop then, but I've only half a minute to make the gate. Nell, the ship is more important.H All this went through John's mind in a split se- cond. ,Q , There were threefagainst one, but John could seo that the sabeteurs were about to touch off the fuse, and so he had ho time