On Monday, Staples High School holds its 137th graduation ceremony.
Over 415 young men and women will receive diplomas, leave the Class of 2024 behind, and head out to a dangerous, unpredictable world.
More than 80 years ago, the world was even more dangerous and unpredictable.
In the 1942-43 school year, the school paper Inklings reported, wartime shortages made “the candy table supply look quite pathetic.” Mounds, Hershey Bars, O. Henry, Baby Ruth all disappeared.
Students with last period study hall were allowed to leave school early. Some worked for local industries manufacturing items needed for the war effort.
Others harvested crops on local farms, replacing older men who had been called up to serve.
The Junior Red Cross organized a scrap and tin drive. Art classes made booklets for men in Army hospitals, and contributed posters to local bond drives.
William Torno’s shop classes built 4 wood rifle racks, each holding 32 guns, for the Westport Defense Training Unit. He added an oxyacetylene course too, in the newly important skill of welding.
Bill Torno (rear) supervises a 1940s Staples High School shop class.
Miss Ossi’s home economics classes made nearly 100 cotton hospital bags. The Navy came to Staples, and gave exams for the V-12 College Training program.
A Commando Course, combining gymnastics and swimming, was held every Tuesday from 1 to 3 p.m. at the downtown YMCA (now Anthropologie), not far from the Riverside Avenue school (now Saugatuck Elementary). Instruction included diving from the side of a burning ship, and swimming under water while oil burned on the surface.
On other days boys wrestled, boxed and marched. The Commando and intensive gym courses were mandatory for all high school boys.
In perhaps the most chilling reminder of the war’s effect, 10 of the 100 graduates of the Class of 1943 – exactly 10 percent – did not attend commencement ceremonies. The stars next to their names meant they had already left school, to serve in the armed forces. The Staples High School yearbook was dedicated to them.
The “new” Staples High School opened on Riverside Avenue in 1937. When the Class of 1943 graduated, it was just 7 years old.
The next year, the 88-member Class of 1944 included 7 more service members.
At an assembly 6 months earlier, principal Douglas Young set a minimum but difficult goal of $25,000 for the 4th nationwide War Bond Drive. Six months later, the results were announced: Staples students had raised a whopping $39,500. That made graduation night special.
So did the sudden appearance, in full uniform, of Airman Sebastian (Sebby) Lauterbach. He joined the class in time to march to the stage for the ceremony.
The memory became even more poignant a few months later, when he was one of two members of the class killed in combat.
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Known as “The Greatest Generation” for a reason…
God Bless the men and women who preserved our democracy and freedom’s we enjoy. Let us not forget that today we have people in this country who want us to be a dictatorship and retaliate against any who disagree. Got help this nation.
there is aman running for an office who insults John McCain. That same man with bone spurs in the feet called brave young men who died defending the USA and democracy suckers and loosers. Memorial Day just passed. Our country is celebrating the victory over anti democratic leaders. I have visited the 06880 VfW recently. i can’t think of a bigger insult to USA war veterans then to call them suckers and loosers. Yet there are millions of Americans and veterans who will support a candidate who insults war veterans and America. My grandfather David Fertel used to take me to his VfW in Astoria Queens as he was so b proud of his service. My grandfather would be deeply offended by the candidates remarks calling war veterans suckers and loosers. i just don’t get it.
Trump claimed his Vietnam was trying to avoid AIDS in the 1980s. This is the draft dodger who said he’s going to have General Mark Milley executed when he gets back to the Presidency.
What do our local VfW brave veterans say about this ?
In the picture of the shop class the man standing back in the center is not shop teacher Bill Torn but it is Staples principal Douglas Young.
Thanks, Peter. Much appreciated. Could that be Bill Torno standing at far left?
I’m assuming Bill Torno was behind the lumber store where, if my memory is correct, is where Long Lots Rd. met State Street/Post Road, next to DeMattio’s Shell station. My sister had Mrs. Torno as a teacher at Burr Farms (or maybe it was Mr. Torno), and I believe Mrs. DeMateo as well (not as sure about that). There was also a Slez gas station and Mrs. Slez was the secretary at Long Lots.
Alex and Benos gas station was there. The Stahursky brothers worked there for decades!
That’s SLEZ and BENOS garage.
Maybe, but I don’t think so. I remember Mr. Torno as being a large man with light or blond hair, sort of curly. (Didn’t we write these same two emails a few years ago?)
So great to have this local connection to History, with a capital H.
I remember that star along side my father’s name. In ‘43 he and a bunch of other 16-18 year olds from Saugatuck went off together to sign-up. Though I think he missed some time with Staples football and playing drums for John Ohanion, the war, of course, took precedence. Always did. Seb Lauterbach and others were always remembered as great Westport heroes. So that the service of those kids would not be forgotten, decades later, my father put his years of architectural engineering to use and designed the WWII memorial on the town green, after which he worked with then selectwomen Diane Farrell for some time to see that it was installed. It has become somewhat cliche, but it really was a special generation – and Westport certainly had its fair share of it.