Photo courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society The 1943 Warren High School yearbook was dedicated to those serving in the Armed Forces during World War II.

Norris Freeborough was all set for his senior year of high school at Youngsville.

It was the summer of 1943 and Freeborough already had the playbook for his upcoming football season.

But Uncle Sam called in August.

So Freeborough’s new playbook would have become Army manuals as he went to basic training at Camp Blanding, Florida in August of 1943.

He kept the school newspaper that had been sent to him in late 1943, a means of helping those pulled into the service stay connected at home.

By the time his Class of 1944 was set for graduation, Freeborough was in Italy as a member of Cannon Company, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Division fighting his way up through Italy.

With the Germans expelled from Italy, Freeborough’s unit fought through France and Germany and ultimately liberated the Nazi death camp Dachau.

Freeborough’s son, Boyd, said he “never really talked a lot about” his military service.

He was awarded the Purple Heart, Good Conduct, WWII Victory Medal, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 bronze stars and 1 bronze arrowhead.

Returning to the states – presumably in late 1945 – Freeborough was able to graduate with the YHS Class of 1946 and worked at National Forge for the next nearly 40 years.

He passed away in July 2013 at the age of 88.

Freeborough and Hannold – featured on the other side of the page – “were great buddies,” Boyd said. “They were like the best of friends.”

For Boyd, this is an interesting time as he now serves as the quality control supervisor with the Warren County School District. (Writer’s note: Before he met with me, he had been out inspecting the county’s schools to determine what precautions would need to be taken for school to open in the fall).

“We have been working with schools to try to create a memorable graduation experience to acknowledge the student’s sacrifice and their accomplishments and all their achievements,” he said. “I can’t think of a situation in my lifetime that compares to this but was thinking about my Dad’s WWII generation. The world was at war then, the world is at war now, only different enemies.

“I feel so bad for the high school seniors now,” he said, though he said that 50 years from now they will be able to tell how they graduated in the midst of a pandemic.

Perhaps the best way to look at these uncertain times is to look at how the “Greatest Generation” handled the challenges they faced at the same age as the Class of 2020.

“The country recovered and flourished after the war due to the sacrifice of the people,” Boyd said, “and will do so again this time.”