High schools played important role during 'The War' years

The war is still going on, and I can't stop watching.

No, not that war.

I'm talking about "The War."

When PBS first aired Ken Burns' magnificent seven-part television series on World War II, I was hooked from the beginning.

I watched it through the first run and then caught it again as they continued to show this powerful story through the personal accounts of men and women from four American towns.

I bought myself the DVD set and book as early Christmas presents.

"The War" tells the story of fighting that touched the lives of every family on every street in every town of America.

Filmmaker Burns is a genius.

First, there was his masterpiece on the Civil War. Then a history of baseball. Then jazz.

The 54-year-old American director and producer of documentary films certainly makes us think, and "The War" sent me back to the early 1940s. I became very curious with what it was like around here in our towns and high schools after the day that will live in infamy.

I was only 5 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, so I obviously can't remember the reactions of my parents or even of my community.

What were our towns and high schools like? How did they deal with the greatest cataclysm in history? Were the high school sports teams stripped of athletes who wanted to report to Uncle Sam?

When the draft was first implemented in late 1940, all men between the ages of 21 and 30 were required to register. Soon after Pearl Harbor, the government expanded that window to between 18 and 64, with men between 20 and 45 in line for immediate call-up.

Ray Schmidt's interesting history of high school football in Illinois tells how the sport was affected by World War II.

"In 1942," he writes, "during the first year of United States involvement in the war, there were numerous reports of prep football players being sworn into the military during halftime ceremonies at the games.

"For the next couple of seasons, high school football schedules were often loosely conducted, especially at the smaller schools, as the shortage of players caused the cancellation of games or entire seasons.

"Despite the difficulties," Schmidt writes, "East St. Louis, under coach Wirt Downing, continued as the premier program in Southern Illinois during the 1940s.

"The early years of the decade in Chicago football produced a great rivalry between Leo and Tilden Tech, champions of the Catholic and Public leagues, respectively, with Leo defeating the Blue Devils for the city championship in 1941 and 1942.

"Tilden then went on to notch two more Public titles in 1944 and 1945 to complete a great run of league championships in four out of five seasons in one of the state's premier conferences of the time."

Schmidt writes that speedster Claude "Buddy" Young led Phillips to the Chicago Public League title in 1943 and then went on to star at the University of Illinois and in professional football.

"The war years were capped off in 1946," Schmidt writes, "when West Aurora, under coach Ken Zimmerman, fielded its best team ever and notched a 10-0 record."

During World War II, many high school students throughout Illinois ran drives to aid in the war effort.

For example, Lane Tech's drives generated more than $3 million in war bonds, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and four Red Cross ambulances. The shop class even constructed a glider that was given to the military.

Civilian defense committees were formed to take charge of the war effort and evacuation plans at many high schools. First-aid classes began for faculty and students, the sale of defense stamps and bonds were stepped up, sugar was rationed, and students were asked to walk to school to save rubber and gasoline.

Medical bottles and silk stockings were collected for hospitals and the Red Cross, and the sale of war stamps and bonds even reached $45,000 at some high schools.

Fourteen World War II veterans who had been called into service during their senior year at Arlington High School were awarded their diplomas in absentia.

The school dances became a little one-sided when senior boys at Arlington withdrew to join the Army or Navy. There were 73 girls in the class but only 35 boys.

Burns' "The War" brings that period vividly to life and made me want to know more about my community and high school during the 1940s.

I may have been only 5 during Pearl Harbor, but I now have a much better understanding about what my parents and their friends endured during this worldwide catastrophe.

The story of those four years is worth telling now to those too young to have lived through them and retelling to those who did.