1944

Since I am perhaps the last of the guest writers to pen these Class Notes before we move on to more permanent editors, some observations might be in order. If items seem a tad dated, it is because the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine requires several months lead time for publication. Items of general interest do not just fall out of the sky- they are solicited and sought out and at times there is either feast or famine. I now have a profound respect and admiration for Fritz Hier for, among other things, writing our Class Notes and facing deadlines for some 30 years—surely a labor of love for which we are all indebted.

Thanks to Merle Hagen of Melbourne, Fla., for an excerpt from a military publication detailing a touching and compelling WW II story that continues to this day. In June 1944, Merle, a 21-year-old ensign, was aboard a U.S. destroyer escort searching for German U-boats off France when one of these demons was forced to surface and surrender. Instead of firing on the crew, as the Germans were wont to do on U.S. merchant ship crews, they were rescued, taken aboard Merle's ship and made prisoners of war, some winding up in Mississippi. Fast forward to Germany 1996. Merle is invited to a reunion for the rescued crew of U-B-490, where he met a former 18-year-old submariner he helped rescue. They became fast friends, a friendship that was renewed recently in Florida when this once-frightened and very wet and cold teenage sailor came to visit Merle. Here is a case of once mortal enemies becoming fast friends, which says a lot for the human race.

Trivia corner: College Hall (our Freshman Commons) was originally a private "palatial" residence built for one Adna Balch. It had the first real bathroom in Hanover and was called the "Golden Corner." The name Balch (a pioneer Hanover family) will, of course, ring most of our bells. Balch Hill was where many of us learned to ski. Some will say that first bathroom was still in use in 1940.

The class thanks interim Class Notes editors Whiting, Epply Nutt, Eckels and Miller and welcomes permanent editors Dave Nutt and "X" Larrabee

guest secretary, 3020 N. Santa Ana Lane, Tucson, AZ 85749

Merle Hagen Has become fast friends with a German lie rescued from a U-boat. BOB MILLER '44