In the foreword to Robinson High School 1945 yearbook, the Robin, these words appear: We stand and view a new and different world, and though we soon will be amongst its strife, we do not wish to hasten the sad hour, but rather to delay our entrance into Life.
Imagine a world saturated by war. It is all around you — on the radio, on posters, in the newspaper, on buses, in movie theaters. Now imagine that you are a 17-year-old boy looking forward to your senior year of high school. That year, five RHS senior boys chose a different path, but for them, the decision was unwavering. They joined up to defend their country.
Andrew Skiba and John Fallot, both of Moon Run, joined the Navy in September of their senior year and went through basic training together. William Watt of Forest Grove joined up during the summer of 1944 when he was still 17. John Hast of Moon Run and William Laurick of Rosslyn Farms joined the Navy in December and February, respectively.
Although these five boys were unable to attend their June 1945 graduation, all were awarded their diplomas in the commencement ceremony. Ironically, by graduation day, the war in Europe had ended.
The somber feeling during the war is evident in a student-written article that appeared in the RHS News Bee class newspaper in May of 1944 as the war raged on. Here is the concluding paragraph, verbatim:
It is for us, the future leaders of America, to begin now to see that what happened after the last war [World War I] will not happen again. We cannot sit back and relax, we must begin now to look forward, and through the past, plan the future. The name of the high school journalism student who penned these words 80 years ago is unknown, but his or her optimistic outlook says a lot about the maturity of the teens who lived through those incredibly troubling times.
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