See You Next Year! High School Yearbooks from WWII
“The life of America is involved in the present struggle, and many persons, young and old, weak and strong, of many races and creeds, are sharing the burdens at home and on the battlefields to make victory possible and quick.”
‘Every day many men in the flower of their manhood die in battle.’ So begins the introduction to the nearly ten pages of memorials to former students and alumni of President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, Hawaii. Of special note on the island where the Second World War began for the United States on Dec 7, 1941 is the ethnic background of those former McKinley students lost in service to their country: all of them are of Japanese descent, including the first Japanese American casualty of the war, Shigeo ‘Joe’ Takata. In each memorial, equal space is allotted for school and military achievements. What were some of the fallen soldiers’ hobbies or interests?
From the Collection of The National WWII Museum
