West Orange High School - Ranger Yearbook (West Orange, NJ)

Page 9 text:

FOREWORD Barges, heavily laden with supplies and fighting men, scrape ashore on the shell- scarred isles of the Pacific; robot bombs soar noiselessly over the Channel to plunge mercilessly u on the peaceful English countryside; mighty armies hurl themselves one against the other on the Eastern and Western Fronts of Germany—these are but a few of the grim realities of war that confront members of the fourth wartime graduating class of West Orange High School. While G.I. Joe has huddled in his cold, musty foxhole with shells and bullets whining overhead only to make ready for his next charge forward to a new objective, we, the class of 19 4% have snugly sat in our homes and school, taking advantage of the rights those men have been fighting and dying for. But the time has now come for us to take an active part in this great war. We must now be prepared to go, each to his own task, some of us to be part of that crew of men sloshing out of those landing barges upon foreign shores, some of us to become crewmen on B-29's soaring over Japan,, still others of us to become nurses in distant evacuation hospitals. And, when we have aided in bringing victory to this war-torn world, then will come a second battle, the more difficult battle of securing and keeping a lasting peace. But, as time draws us further and further away from our high school days, we shall not forget those happy school years; we shall remember West Orange High School, our true friend Mr. Reimherr, who was our first high school principal, our new principal Mr. Hearn and his able supervision and guidance, our teachers and their friendliness and attempts to educate us, the cramming sessions brought about by exams, the exciting football, basketball, and baseball games, our senior class play, Junior Miss, and numberless other events. And so in order that we may have a permanent record of these Blue Ribbon Days, I, W. O. Wilma, along with my brother, W. O. Willy, have written this diary, which I now pass on to you, my classmates, in the hope that it may afford you many pleasant hours in future years.