lucky you - your browser doesnt play annoying midis

Dear Friends and Schoolmates,

   History buffs that we are here, we try to observe this day every year - and then some:

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/D-Day.html

http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/cluckmeat/daddysddayletter.html 

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/06-06-04-NNHS-D-Day-Plus-60-Years-Time-Mourn.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/06-06-06-NNHS-D-Day-Plus-62-Years.html - (1.0 mb MP3 file version of the D-Day Theme from "Victory at Sea")

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/06-06-06-NNHS-D-Day-Plus-62-Years-regular.html - (regular version)

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/06-06-07-NNHS-D-Day-Plus-63-Years.html - (1.0 mb MP3 file version of the D-Day Theme from "Victory at Sea")

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/06-06-07-NNHS-D-Day-Plus-63-Years-regular.html - (regular version)

BONUS #1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPU4p7UQOtU - The invasion of Normandy on June 6th, 1944 - footage from The History Channel

BONUS #2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_qeCNg8fO0 - ten minute documentary made for eighth grade school project - extraordinarily well done (plus you can catch a glimpse of       my daddy, the late Robert Buckley (John Marshall HS - '25) just before the end)!

BONUS #3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sJqEccwliQ - My Chemical Romance - The Ghost Of You - for all you "young 'uns" - especially my baby girl,         Adrienne Harty (Hillsboro HS, IL / American School, IL) of NC)

HOMEWORK - the above three videos plus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Normandy

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dday/

EXTRA CREDIT:

    From Fred Field ('45) of CA - ummm, long, long ago - "D-DAY AT NNHS":

D-DAY AT NNHS

by

Fred W. Field

Class of June 1945

      Beginning in late May of 1944 we students had been told and reminded that we would have a special assembly when the invasion of Europe began. As the calendar crept into June we began to wonder if the event would happen before Friday the ninth - the day school closed for the summer.

      We had a lot to think about in that early June of 1944. My own class was just finishing the junior year. For most juniors, the end of the semester would be a determining point for whether or not our earned credits by the following June would likely add up to the minimum required for graduation. A few classmates had already made the decision to stretch out the graduation date for at least an extra semester (an ambitious athletic department head helped nurture that idea).

      Many of us pondered the chances of the war lasting long enough for our age group to be swept into the military. At June 1944 most boys in my class were within plus or minus a few months from a sixteenth birthday. The draft boards were already grabbing fresh eighteen-year-olds. We had known seniors who had fallen behind in the education time track and were drafted right out of school - some of them only a month before graduation. For my contemporaries the time-to-uniform seemed already stamped into our destiny. 

      Those who had plans for college knew that the institutions were crowded with military programs and that entrance immediately after high school might be difficult. The draft board would certainly be watching with interest.

      Others just thought about their forthcoming summer employment - which for most of the boys meant a job in the shipyard. There would be a long, long six-day week and while the pay would seem great, the work would be weary and dirty.

      A few of us had signed up for summer jobs as waiters at the Orkney Springs Hotel - an upscale resort in the mountains close to the West Virginia Border. We had no idea what an adventure that would turn out to be.

      On the morning of Tuesday, June 6th we woke up to radio reports that the invasion had begun. Landings had started just before daybreak on the English Channel beaches of France, the time there being about nine hours prior to our waking up in Virginia. Conversation was quiet on the bus trip to school. There wasn't a lot to say. Most of us were aware of the dangers of that invasion and how disastrous failure could be.

      Not long after we were settled in our classrooms the summons came for the special assembly. About an hour later we filed into the auditorium and quietly took our seats. This was certainly not to be a pep rally. No band playing this time. No bouncy cheerleaders hyping up our spirits. Not even any of the usual applause for the self conscious student helper who dragged the microphone onto the stage and tested the PA system.

      As was traditionally the case in our assemblies, some opening remarks were made by Dean of Girls Ethel Gildersleeve. She then very quickly introduced our Principal, Lamar R. Stanley. 

      Principal Stanley was always a rather serious person but on this day he made a particularly solemn speech about the significance of what was happening on the beaches of Normandy. He reminded us of the price paid by those recent schoolmates already lost in action in many places around the world. All of us had known some of them personally. 

      In retrospect I think that in his speech our Principal intended a strong message that we must be prepared for the list of the fallen to suddenly grow. There was a brief interlude for a prayer by a local minister. Then after a few closing words from Principal Stanley our special assembly for D-Day was concluded.

      Thank you again - so very much, Fred!  You can't know how much I appreciate having you with us to share these precious memories!
 

BIRTHDAYS - TODAY AND UPCOMING:

      From My Niece, Shari, of VA - 06/05/08 - "Ouch - tooth ordeal":

   From the Head Cheerleader of 1958, Evelyn Fryer Fish of TX - 06/05/08:

  FRED MAYS ('60 - of VA) - Collector of Memorabilia - awesome - fwmays@cox.net

  From Ann Mabe Leighton ('58) of NC - 06/05/08:

   WOWZERONI-YOWZERONI! Thanks so much, Ann! I really appreciate your taking the time to transcribe that! I hope you type faster and better than I do, because I tried that once years ago, and it took me quite a while. I already have it posted here, but thank you so much; I'm sure that there are many who have not read it, and it's always good to reflect:

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/SITE-MAP.html

     http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/old-stomping.html

          http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/nnhs.html

   Tell your brother he's a sweetie for sending you that treasure!

Answering to         Syd Dearing ('56 - of TN) about those pictures:  In the one with the jockey, the fellow on the right with the hat is definitely Froggie.  He was always Big Syd's side kick in jokes and trips.  I remember Froggie's pinching the flesh on top of his hand and saying if it does not snap back quick, you are in trouble.  His never did.  There was also another fellow from NASA and another one that was in the shipyard on submarines.  I don't recall any more names, unfortunately, but we had some great times.

   Thanks, Norris! Isn't it fun when we can all help one another solve such mysteries - and relive such memories?!?

        From Sydney Dearing ('56) of TN - 06/05/08: 

Thanks to Norris (Perry - Warwick HS - '59 - of VA) for identifying Froggie in the picture.  I kind of thought the one on the right was Froggie because he was the only one in the picture that I actually recognized but didn't want to make that ID without knowing for sure.  Again I'm trying to pull in very old memories but I'm wanting to say that Froggie got that nickname from his deep gravelly voice reminiscent of a bullfrog's croak.  Maybe Norris or        Dimples (Sepi Dinwiddie Prichard - '58 - of NC) will remember that.

   Maybe so, Sydney - thanks!

Carol Buckley Harty 219 Four Ply Lane Fayetteville, NC 29311-9305   910-488-9408

To donate, click on the gold seal on the left,               or just mail it to my home. Thanks!

"Hymn to the Fallen" theme from "Saving Private Ryan"

- Composed by John Williams

"Hymn to the Fallen" theme from "Saving Private Ryan" courtesy
of http://victoryatseaonline.com/war/saving.html at the suggestion of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 05/24/06
Thank you, Dave!

Return to NNHS Class of 1965