A Learning Experience

Quartermaster is in charge of sorting and burying the dead. Graves were moved multiple times, first buried at the battle site, then after time moved to a military cemetery elsewhere, then Quartermaster is in charge of sorting and burying the dead. Graves were moved multiple times, first buried at the battle site, then after time moved to a military cemetery elsewhere, then maybe moved again at the wishes of the family to a stateside grave. Pilots usually didn’t get graves, but memorials. Some crash reports explain clearly why bodies can’t be retrieved from a plane the crashed and burned. Maybe never found, MIA – Missing In Action. Detroit had the first population boom in the 1920’s with the first explanation of the city limits. The Township built a combined elementary and high school in 1915 on Grand River. Prior to this, the township didn’t have a high school; those few who could go on had to travel to a Detroit High School and the Township paid.  Quickly outgrown, a new high school was built by Redford in 1921 on Grand River Avenue and Waterford Road. It underwent several expansions and then in 1926 Detroit annexed two-thirds of the Township, taking several township schools with it. Old Redford closed in 2007, demolished for a Meijer store in 2012. Students came from all over Detroit. Primary close by neighborhoods included Rosedale Park, an upscale neighborhood with boulevards and stately homes, and also Brightmoor, a planned subdivision of often below standard housing for the large number of transplants from the south. Yes, it is important to state they were from the south as the building philosophy of B.E. Taylor, large scale developer, was that that the shoddy wood frame homes were better than what they had in Appalachia.

The Memorial Plaque

There once was a wall mounted bronze plaque to students killed in World War II. The old high school, once the finest in the city, now torn done. Curious, I don’t actually recall the plaque from the years I attended Redford, but I know I’ve forgotten a lot, and how much of angst-ridden adolescent does one really want to recall? In the sixties we were occupied with heated arguments over Vietnam so there wasn’t time to honor war dead. But when the school was to be torn down, due to mismanagement, Detroit’s impending bankruptcy and overall declining school age population, someone managed to rescue the plaque from metal scavengers. Therein starts a journey to learn about the people named on the plaque. Are there yearbook photos? Who were they? How did they die? It is a discovery of America in the 1930’s. It was a time of tremendous upheaval, evidenced by a great migration of people to automobile factories of Detroit. What a blending of nationalities and people! Families were large, houses small. Working class predominates as people struggle through the depression. Neighborhoods thrived and neighbors often moved and changed. The 30’s moved on into the 40’s and the blind enthusiasm of the young who didn’t recall the horrors of WWI. Amazing are the military resources now available on the internet. And while there was nothing particularly unique about this microcosm of students from Detroit, in the war they had incredible experiences covered all theaters of war. Bombing raids over Germany, Japanese prisoner of war ships, big Pacific battles, fatal jeep accidents. And they were young, oh so young, when they joined up. Surprising was how many died in training, especially the pilots they are designated DNB – Died Non Battle. Histories are memorialized by veterans and military units on internet websites. Striking is to see videos of how fallen Americans are still honored in France with memorials and ceremonies, still today. Puts America to shame to see French school children laying wreaths at American tombs. May we remember them and those lives cut short.