The Woodward Alumni Hall of Fame Association

MS. Camilla Savage Woodward High School English teacher wrote Woodward High School’s first official History and in that history Ms. Savage wrote about those G.I.’s that returned to school after the war and the plaque that honored those who did not.

“Back to school came thirty-five veterans in September, 1946. They were enjoying the advantages of the G. I. Bill of Rights. But sixty-seven veterans did not return, and it was to these boys that Woodward High School paid solemn tribute on October 20, at the unveiling of a bronze plaque bearing their names." Attending the memorial services were the families and friends of Woodward students and alumni, who had given their lives during the war, as well as a number of servicemen.

Principal LaRue opened the ceremony and Grove Patterson, editor of the Toledo Blade delivered the main address, in which he said, “Those who gave their lives in World War II will not have died in vain, if their sacrifices teach us that peace on earth can be maintained by constant effort.”

Funds raised by the classes' of 1944, 45, and 46 provided for the plaque. It now hangs in the corridor of the new Woodward High School. The 1945 Saga was dedicated to the boys who "gave their lives in service.” In the subsequent years, from the subsequent conflicts that are started by old men who should know better and are fought by young men who haven’t yet begun to live their lives more names were added.

Sincerely,

Thomas Toth
Class of 1974