Readers Remember

When I was in junior high school, I wanted to play in the orchestra. I went to Mr. Shonick, who conducted the orchestra and the band, and asked if I could join those groups.

He said they needed an oboe player. Thanks to his help, I was able to rent an oboe, find a teacher and join the band and orchestra. He was a really great teacher.

One day he disappeared from the school. Everyone wanted to know what happened to him. We heard that he had failed the security check, that he had been a member of the Communist Party at some time in his life.

I was very sad to lose such a good teacher.

Some years later I heard he was working in a local music store. A great teacher was lost to our school due to the “red scare.”

D.J. ASIMONT

From the Internet

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My father was appointed air raid warden for our neighborhood in Dearborn, Mich. Among his duties was the maintenance of an air raid siren mounted under the eaves of our duplex. Every few months dad would be required to turn on the siren for a few seconds; it could be heard for miles.

Dad turned the siren on for a minute or so on V-E day, but on V-J day he was out of town. The afternoon we heard the news of Japan’s surrender, our neighbor next door ran over and asked for the key to the siren, which my mother provided him. Unlocking the switch box, he turned the siren on and then drove off to do some shopping.

After a few minutes of ear-splitting noise, we found that we couldn’t turn off the siren because he had locked the switch box and taken the key with him. In desperation, our upstairs neighbor obtained an ax and severed the cable and peace finally came to our neighborhood.

CHARLES C. MUNROE III

From the Internet