Western Michigan University - Brown and Gold Yearbook (Kalamazoo, MI)

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FOR NAVY action, when the war w as moving closer and closer to Japan. They made cracks about the Battle of Kalamazoo and the men behind the Wacs and Waves. But they stuck it out and they realized that college and Navy ■were preparing them for their in- evitable roles in the thick of it. When some of the marines w ho lived last year in Spindler Hall w ere killed in action on Iw o Jima, w hen some of Vandercrooks ' former V-12 ' s were -wounded w hile ' with the Fleet — sailors and students, too, came to the sober kno wledge that college Navy units -were, after all, pretty important. We had fun w ith the Navy. Friendships and engagements and marriages, for that matter, resulted from the association of bluejackets and Western coeds. Many of the fellows have told us they think Western ' s tops and that they will come back to study here under the G.I. Bill of Rights. One of them, Tom Hill, has already returned and became this spring the Student Council ' s first male president since 1942. Best of luck, you fellows w ho pull out of Kalamazoo this June and October! And remem- ber that, though you were half Navy and half college w hile here. Western liked you and con- siders you Bronchoites w ith the best of ' em! jS s »i»— — -

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MAKE WAY e;:° ° ' «e? ' -J; ' etf ies Of ne ' fl.

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oil jbi JCU WaviM. 7alcoii You see me on the buses and in the shows with my peacoat and flat-hat. You don ' t know me per- sonally, but have you ever thought about me as I passed you on the street — about what I ' m like and of what I think? Chances are that, if you knew me, you wouldn ' t find me much different from the boy who delivered your paper before he grew from his high-school sweater to a blue or khaki jacket. My joys and sorrows, hopes and ambitions are pretty much the same as his. My business here is to learn and prepare — to become worthy of the stripes I hope some day to wear on my sleeve. But my work and studies aren ' t what I ' ll remember about this place in days to come. I ' ll remember Western and Kalamazoo for the part they played in my fun — my off-duty moments. I ' ll remember the people I met who became a part of my life — the guys I lived and studied with, the girls I met and dated and joked with, the teacher who helped me over study troubles, and the woman who gave me a lift down- town and told me about her son in the service. I ' ll remember the little unimportant things that might seem a little silly to you — Vandercook at night shining like a glittering Christmas tree . . . the laughter and confusion of the Soda Bar above the excited blare of the juke-box . . . the hurried last-minute check before quarters inspection . . . the long walk up the stairs to the hill after a strength test ... a coke in the campus store on a seething summer day . . . the low lights and bright music of the campus danc es . . . the shout of my name at mail call . . . the boisterous and crowded bus ride back to the barracks after night liberty . . . the extra warmth and softness my sack seemed to gain right after reveille . . . the elated prepara- tion for Saturday night liberty . . . the unhurried peace of a Sunday afternoon. These things, insignificant as they sound, ,i my life here a human vibrance that I ' ll reme ' i in the future, look back to with a warm fei ' i i. not untinged with regret that these thing: gone, now only a thing of the past — part oi cherished memories.