Class Note 1957
Issue
March-April 2022
Jay Greene’s triumphant return to his St. Helena, California, lecture series after an 18-month hiatus was attended by Judy and Bob Creasy. Jay’s focus on WW II apparently resonated with all classmates, as the subject of WW II went viral on our listserv. Herb Roskind remembers the Sunday outing in the family’s 1940 Buick cut short to hear President Roosevelt describe that day of infamy. John Lange remembers sitting on his father’s lap, listening to music and being read the funnies, when the station was suddenly interrupted with the president’s message. Art Koff remembers his father tracking battles with colored pins on a large map of Europe. Charles Tseckares remembers his mother and father crying when his three brothers went off to war and not understanding why anyone could be sad at such an exciting time. Others contributing to this column include Rod Hinkle, Steve Katz, Bob Copeland, Gary Gilson, Bob Marchant, David Keith, Bruce Sloane, Bert O’Neill, Bruce Bernstein, Judy Stempel, Bob Slaughter, and Mike Lasser.
Classmates living on the East Coast at the time remember finding debris on the beaches from torpedoed merchant ships and seeing anti-submarine planes returning so low they could see the pilots’ faces. West Coast classmates remember air raid wardens and blackout shades for the house windows and family car. All classmates recall gas rationing, listening to the president’s fireside chats, making tin foil balls from cigarette packs, collecting scrap metal, Saturday movies with Pathe News, victory gardens, making butter with dye and a bag of margarine, collecting fighter pilot cards, mothers wrapping bandages, and soldiers visiting our schools promoting war bonds and treating kids to a ride in a jeep.
No other classmate mentioned a mother stripping the wringers off her wash tub for the war effort or a father, rejected for military service because of a failing heart, establishing an Oregon State cavalry unit to patrol the beaches. My memory from this day forward will be of a 5-year-old Cinda Ely honoring her absent father off in the Navy by singing “Anchors Aweigh” to anyone in uniform.
—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772) 231-1248; johnwcusick@aol.com
Classmates living on the East Coast at the time remember finding debris on the beaches from torpedoed merchant ships and seeing anti-submarine planes returning so low they could see the pilots’ faces. West Coast classmates remember air raid wardens and blackout shades for the house windows and family car. All classmates recall gas rationing, listening to the president’s fireside chats, making tin foil balls from cigarette packs, collecting scrap metal, Saturday movies with Pathe News, victory gardens, making butter with dye and a bag of margarine, collecting fighter pilot cards, mothers wrapping bandages, and soldiers visiting our schools promoting war bonds and treating kids to a ride in a jeep.
No other classmate mentioned a mother stripping the wringers off her wash tub for the war effort or a father, rejected for military service because of a failing heart, establishing an Oregon State cavalry unit to patrol the beaches. My memory from this day forward will be of a 5-year-old Cinda Ely honoring her absent father off in the Navy by singing “Anchors Aweigh” to anyone in uniform.
—John W. Cusick, 105 Island Plantation Terrace, Vero Beach, FL 32963; (772) 231-1248; johnwcusick@aol.com