WWII took away pieces of college

Originally published in The News-Star newspaper, September 17, 2006

Earlier this year, in response to a question about what it was like at Northeast Junior College during World War II, I received a wonderful letter from Annette Ragland Berry from the Class of '43.

Her description of what it was like at NJC at the beginning of WWII was at the same time beautiful and poignant.

"I was three weeks away from my seventeenth birthday on that day. My friends and I were at the old College Friend when President Roosevelt spoke on the radio. You could have heard a pin drop! It was December 8, 1941, and he was announcing we were at war with Japan.

"We kids knew this was going to change our lives. In fact, several of the boys in that room had their fates sealed that day. I will never forget."

And so it began, four years of struggle and loss. Over 700 of our (at least 220 graduates of OPJC, NC, or NJC) men and women served.

Although it was not known on Dec. 8, the college had already experienced its first losses. The Monroe Morning World on Dec. 13, 1941 reported that a popular local youth, Ensign Walter S. Savage, had been killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Savage was a 1936 graduate of Northeast Center and was active on both the Chacahoula and PowWow staffs. He graduated from LSU and received a commission in the U.S. Navy and was serving on the Arizona. His younger brother John was as student at NJC at the time of his death. Savage's death had a profound impact on the college. There was an article in the Dec. 19 edition of the PowWow and one of his professors declared that he would always leave a seat vacant in his classroom in his memory. This professor, William R. Hammond, would also pen a tribute to Savage.

L'Envoi

He is not dead — my student, friend of late

Who gave his life that bright December morn,

When e'en a world attuned to sin and hate

Found vileness deepest dregs conceived and born.

Atop a mighty ship, his life a promise part fulfilled,

He dared the Foe to quench our freedom's fires

That men of courage long ago had willed;

And took his place beside our honored sires.

He is not dead, I say — his grave unknown,

His gift to flag and free men everywhere

Have earned not mortal, but a nobler throne;

He lost his life — and found it in a larger sphere.

On Jan. 16, 1942 the PowWow noted that two more students had been lost at Pearl Harbor. Robert Pribble and Ensign Ray Jones were reported to have met their deaths in the same raid that took Savage's life.

And so it began with three. At this point in time we are not sure how many of our graduates and students lost their lives in WWII, but we owe honor to them all.

Have a great day at ULM!

Dr. John Knesel, ULM Professor