1941

Continuing reminiscences of Dartmouth and the WW II era, some worthy classmates have submitted the following notes:

George Herman recalled vividly that his first paper for English 101 was returned with no grade, just a note, "See me after class." He writes: "My heart sank. 'Wonderful,' I thought, "flunking in my first month here.' But no, the prof said my paper was so good I had been excused from English 101 and assigned to a special group, English LA, with about 20 other '41s. What a delightful group they turned out to be. What a wonderful class. What wonderful friends they made; what a feeling of acceptance by Dartmouth College. For the first time in years I began to hope I might be a person of at least some value. Thank you, Dartmouth!"

Bill Aylward remembered that in the fall of 1939 students touring Europe brought back observations that Germany was an armed camp. In August 1940 the Navy announced the V-7 program. Bill signed up on September 16, 1940, and took a months training cruise on the USS Quincy, a heavy cruiser. He attended Midshipman's School in Chicago and on the day after Commencement in August 1942 the Quincy was sunk in the Battle of Savo Island, Solomon Islands. Bill arrived in the same area about two weeks later.

Steve Winship recalled his 44 months of destroyer duty in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Steve said, "I was a little apprehensive about the forthcoming invasion of the Philippines in the fall of 44. The feeling persisted into the last night before our departure from Manus Island for Leyte. At the tent officers club I worked my way to the 'longest bar in the world,' which was seething with humanity. I heard a familiar voice—one not heard since June 15, 1941. It was Navy lieutenant Nick Carter. He made way for me and bellowed an order of the 'creme de la creme' drink of the day. We began swapping stories. It was a rollicking time with Nick's ability to get the most out of a story. We laughed and laughed until I felt weak and was thus invigorated by Old Friend Nick when it came time to catch the last boat to the ship."

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