Ypsilanti High School - Ypsi Dixit Yearbook (Ypsilanti, MI)

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CLASS ORATION HOMER DIEBLER x YOUTH'S PLEA FOR FREEDOM Not smce the Red Coats challenged the New Englanders at Lexington and Bunker Hxll have Amerncans been asked to pay such a heavy pnce for the bless xngs of freedom Lmberty equalxty and jUSClC6 have been accepted as natural t1me has come to pay the pnce and the toll may be heavy A government of the people by the people and for the people can be malntaxned only an terms of severe sacnlice In thls manner only shall we rema1n free from enslavement at the hands of a foreign dxctatorshlp If th1s 18 not done we w1ll be obhged to hve as those 1n Europe vlctxms of Commumsm and completely at the mercy of a few ruthless tyrants Jan Valtm author of Out of the Night has experlenced both forms of lxvxng He has llved under the tyrannical government of Europe and also the democrat1c gov emment of our own Umted States In relatmg h1s experiences of h1s book he says I wanted to tell the people of Amenca that nexther the Natxonal Soclahsm of Hltler nor the Commumsm of Stalm nor any other tyranny could ever succeed ln bnngmg happlness mto a smgle humble dwellmg These Socxallstxc Commumstlc and Fasclst forms of government represent just the opposxte of our own democracy The people of these countnes have lived ln extreme poverty for many years Thelr standard of hvmg has been very low compared to that of the Umted States They have been mere serfs on the land of the nch upper classes For many years now the people of Russxa have been suppressed by the powerful hand of Joseph Stahn and h1s clan The mhabxtants of the Slavic countnes such as Czechoslovakla Bulgaria and Yugoslavla have spent thexr lxves work1ng from dawn txll dark to get enough supphes to sustam thelr meager lxvmg Now they are v1ct1ms of the new German order Hztler has conquered or has under h1s control practxcally all of the Eastern hemxsphere except for the fightmg Bntxsh who are falling fast Now xt comes our tum to carry on the iight As stated xn the Current Hlstory magazme 'The reahza txon that Amerxca IS now largely responsxble for the outcome of World War Il xs gamxng ground xn the Umted States It IS our tum to make extreme sacrifices to meet the challenge No one xn the Umted States wants war but 1f It comes we must be pre pared to glve everythmg-even our l1ves to save our freedom fought for by our ancestors We must be wlllmg to meet th1s challenge wxth all we have We must be ready to make every ultlmate sacnfice for freedom By ': ' bom rights and privileges: just as free speech and the right to worship. Now the

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Our Senior year had come at last We were approaching the top of our ladder the Zenith of our high school career At our first class meeting the fol lowmg officers were elected President Robert Gaudy vice president Warren Oakes secretary Betty McK1llen treasurer Betty Harden Miss Davis was the class adviser To distinguish members of the group fads were soon selected belge wool jackets with a brown and beige emblem How the lower classmen envied us on the day when we first appeared in our fads' Activities were not long in starting November brought the All School Comedy Miss Murrays home room 303 gave the dignified performance 'The Villain Foxled Again Miss Davis home room 205 gave Davids Dream David caused no little anxiety to members of the cast among them Bob Gaudy who vowed he would forever remain a bachelor These two home rooms took first and third prizes respectively The year book staff headed by Gerald Power started collecting material early in the year Tonight we are to receive our copies After the hours of work done by the staff we know we shall not be disappointed of the year Beauty and mernment were the keynotes The mammoth white Christmas tree back of the orchestra was flanked with boxes done in colored wrappmgs and ribbons At the corners of the dance floor stood candles Seniors at least were enthusiastic about the party Then came the play Young April Will anyone ever be able to forget Joe Bnttons poem Odd Isnt It? We congratulated ourselves that ours had been an excellent production Th1s years operetta A Waltz Dream wh1ch was acclaimed the best 1n recent years, had the support of Seniors in many leading roles In fact Seniors were prominent in all mus1cal orgamzations including the Octette the Drum and Bugle Corps Band and Orchestra Members of our class were active in both girls and boys sports We were proud of their athletic ability and sportsmanship This IS our story The chief mterest in h1story lies in the fact that it is not yet finished May the members of th1s class of 41 keep on making a praiseworthy contribution to h1story 3 , 9 Q g Y Q Q ' , - . . Q I . . 5 ' 1 Y , 1 - l I I! ' ' I lf ' Y 'I ' 9 1 ' 1 , . , . . . The Christmas Party given by our class was one of the outstanding parties . . , , . I- y IK . I -11 1 3 7 ' 1 9 bi Q1 1 n I I 1 s . Q - . s 5 5 5 7 ' . . . . ,

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ws, gl Recently the all xmportant draft b1ll was passed Th1s meant that all of the men physlcally able between the ages of twenty one and thxrty five would be conscrrpted for a year of mlhtary servxce In thexr eyes they would be asked to pay a prlce for the blessnngs of freedom Immedxately there began a heated dxs cussxon by the public They complamed that Selectrve Servlce would be takmg a year out of thexr llves In truth however thls IS not a sacnfice but rather a prlvllege Lyle M Spencer tells the facts when he says ln Februarys Readers Dxgest of thls year The truth 15 that the average draftee IS gomg to go back to c1v1l l1fe better equxpped to earn a Ilvxng than he was when hrs number came up because Select1ve Servlce rs feedxng clothmg housmg and paymg hlm to spend a year rn the world s largest trade school Another great sacrlfice we are havmg to face at thls t1me IS the tax s1tua t1on Besrdes the heavy taxes we have already many more are belng levled on general taxes are bemg mcreased m every department In answer to this problem I say that 1f we are gomg to mamtam our freedom and perpetuate our present good government we must pay for lt m the form of taxes At thxs t1me we must wxllmgly contrlbute all that IS necessary to keep us free We must lend supphes to England and rf necessary we must enter the war ourselves In the end I bel1eve that we wxll be the wmners of thrs war Th1s statement IS supported by an art1cle appearmg xn a recent edxtlon of the Current H1story whxch states as follows But wrth few exceptxons Amencan experts agree that when thxs nat1ons arms productlon mach1nery really gets roll1ng xts output will be tremendous They agree that Hrtler and hrs assoclates wxll be beaten 1n the end and that th1s output of Amencan mdustry whether or not lt IS ever used m1l1tar1ly by the Umted States Army and Navy wxll determine the outcome In short they agree that Amerlca wxll wm thxs war At present we are not dolng all rn our power to mamtam our freedom We must co operate w1th each other VV'e must vxork so that when our work IS done we can nghtfully say that we dxd our part 1n bulldmg a great natron whxch by our own sacxfices and endeavors remams free X41 E Q C! H' r. . . . . . . 5 Q Y , . . . . Q . , . . . . . A .. . i . i . . ' all forms of merchandlse. The mcome tax exemptxon has been lowered and, ln Y ' 3 ' I 1 I I . . ,, . . . U 9 1 , M . A . . , . r I I I , . 1 U 1