Torchia, Ginny Perez: Frankfurt AHS , Germany and Rochefort AHS, France

This memory is in the form of a question. Are there “blank” portions in your memories? I was in Europe for approximately 2+1/2 years, 1953-1956. A subject may come up about a movie, TV show, music……I know nothing about it if it occurred during that time frame. We didn’t have a TV, The Stars & Stripes was our newspaper, didn’t have a phone. When a “ new” brat came in we were hungry for the current Hit Parade music, are people wearing white bucks shoes, rock & roll ?, hair style ….ponytail or DA? What are your blank portions?

da Cruz, Frank: Frankfurt HS: 1959 – 1961

The following is from Frank da Cruz’s family history, which contains more memories of living in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt High School

Photo of FHS dorms and Quonset huts
FHS dorms (right)
and “Quonset” huts (Silver City)
Photo of exterior of Frankfrut High School with cars
Frankfurt High School

My bro­ther and I went to the Amer­i­can Army schools — 9th-11th grade for me, Frankfurt High School; ele­men­tary school for Dennis. The FHS student body was 900 and included kids like me who walked to school, kids from farther away who arrived in Army buses each day, kids from even farther who lived in the dorm all week but went home on weekends, and kids from REALLY far away like Moscow or Damascus (children of diplomats in places where there were no American schools), who stayed in the dorm all semester. Although 900 sounds small to a New Yorker, it was far too much for the original 1954 building so we also had some “Quonset huts” for the overflow (strictly speaking these were Butler Buildings; real Quonset huts are half-cylinders, but it’s the same idea: prefab temporary buildings made of corrugated metal that can be erected in a few hours).

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Walsh, Richard C.: 1953 – 1954

These reminiscences date from the years 1953 – 1954 that I spent working for the Army’s Dependent School Division, Northern Area Command. While all three have to do with my MG” they are not about the car but rather, about the kindness I experienced in Germany.

IN THE NICK OF CRIME

When I returned to my Frankfurt teaching station (Frankfurt American Elementary School) after a Washington’s Birthday holiday observance that I’d spent on a visit to pre-Wall Berlin via rail, I noticed that my MG wasn’t where I’d parked it. (This was in February of 1954.) (more…)

Abrell, Faye: 1946 – 1947

I was with the delayed first group of some 120 teachers. We sailed from New York on the ship “George Washington” the first week of Oct. 1946. We were delayed because of the New York boat strike. The first two groups waited for us in Frankfurt.

My orders got sent to Bloomington, Illinois instead of Indiana. I was corresponding with one of the three Indiana teachers selected and found she had her orders. I phoned and was told to proceed without orders. Things worked out well in New York. (more…)

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