Franklin went to high school at Loomis, a private boarding school in Windsor, Connecticut. Although he often claimed he was not a very good student (except possibly in math), I recall him speaking fondly of the school and his time there.
As noted in his year book, he was active in team sports, playing soccer, hockey, and baseball. Like the other students, he was required to participate in military drills. He was probably given his nickname "Atlas" because he was taller than most of his classmates (6' 3.5"). During this time he also started listening to jazz (despite his mother's objections!).
A typical letter home to his family (shortened where noted ~~~), after returning to school:
4/11/43
Dear Mother,
Just as I got onto the bus, I remembered that I had forgotten my toothbrush -- thanks; but there's not much toothpaste left!
~~~
Athletic awards were given out the other day -- I got another letter -- for hockey.
~~~
Saturday, I spent the day in Hartford. One of the fellows that went with us lives in West Hartford. He asked us out to his place for breakfast -- so naturally we accepted. After that, we went back to Hartford, and rode up and down a few times on the escalators in G.E. Fox and Co. Then at about 11:45, we went to a show. We got out at about 3:30 -- after having seen a few pictures, and also Gene Krupa's orchestra on stage.
We then decided to have dinner -- so at about 4:00, we were enjoying a delicious meal of fried chicken and French fried potatoes. We got back to school just in time for supper -- after which we saw a movie that was playing here at school.
~~~
Love,
Franklin
 |
| Home on South Street, 1939 |
At this time, his sister Nancy was 16 and his brother Dave was 8. They were living on South Street in Middlebury, Connecticut.
In June 1943, Franklin and his classmates graduated, knowing that most of them would soon be drafted into the war. At that time, however, they had no way of knowing where they would be sent or the experiences they would encounter.
No comments:
Post a Comment