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| NHS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION | December 2005 |
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THIS ISSUE IS DEDICATED TO THE NHS GRADUATES WHO HAVE SERVED OR ARE CURRENTLY SERVING IN THE MILITARY Writers for the NHS Alumni News Fredine Haddock Vi Carrick Theda Savage |
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PRESENTED AT THE CLASS REUNION IN 1998
Reprinted with permission from
CLURCY (TIPPIT) RIGGLE
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No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
as well as if promontories were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of
thine own was. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in
mankind. And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls
for thee." This was written 400 years ago by John Donne, an English
clergyman and poet. It is just as valid today as it was then. For six years, grades 7 through 12, the class of 1938 walked the same halls, sat in the same classrooms, read (or maybe wrote) the same graffiti on the restroom walls, suffered the same teachers, good, bad or indifferent. Made and agonized over the same blunders. Succeeded some of the time, failed some of the time. We were all single threads within the web of shared experiences. Whatever we did to the web, we did to ourselves. We were bound together, connected. However many years pass between meetings, we are still a web, connected, and we know one another. On a lovely May evening 60 years ago, we donned our caps and gowns and walked across that brightly lighted stage to receive our diplomas, went down the steps on the other side and straight into our own individual futures. Some to the military, some chosen few to college, remember it was the last years of the great depression and not everyone could attend college then, even if we wanted to. But most found work of some kind, married, had children, loved, lost, felt great joy, grief, experienced everything common to mankind. And then we were caught up in the greatest conflagration in the world's recorded history. We were the right age at the right time to be drawn immediately into the first waves of fighting men of World War II. Most of the young men in our class were among the first to go. Some didn't come back. These (from our class were) John Brock, Howard Meyer and Bob O'Bert. It has been called the last "good" war -- a contradiction in terms, if I ever heard one. But at least we knew whom and what we were fighting. And that we had to win. And win we did. I think we were probably the last generation to feel such patriotism. The last generation who could use the word "honor" without being embarrassed. And who stood up to attention when our national anthem was played or sung at ball games. Nobody does that any more. And who got all choked up at the sight of the flag going by in a parade. We were the last of the giants. And with such incredible courage, INCREDIBLE. The single threads of our web were strong. We are fortunate in that our lives have spanned the greatest changes ever recorded in man's history. We were all born around 1920 and '21, and there were hitching posts and unpaved streets around the square. The horse was still the commonest form of transportation. Now there are probes into deep space and men have walked on the moon. Computers accomplish in seconds what it used to take months or years to do. We were all observers of all this, we had ringside seats, watching all this unfold. The web is becoming thin and frayed though. |
 Neosho, MO 64850 E-Mail Address: alumnicommittee@ neoshoalumni.org 
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The NHS Alumni Association is a not-for-profit organization formed to promote unity and goodwill between Neosho High School graduates. Said organization shall exist to provide accessible information concerning Neosho High School and its graduates to other members, to raise revenue for community based Alumni Association activities and to fund raise for the provision of scholarships for future Neosho High School graduates. |
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