"Perhaps your love will save me..."

The one activity in US History that I enjoyed this year (if you could call it “enjoyment”) was the day we devoted to the soldiers who fought in World War II. Talking was not permitted the whole class period. We watched a clip from Saving Private Ryan (the opening sequences), and during the silent aftermath that followed, we were given letters addressed to us from our “families.” Each of us was to react to the letter and write one back.

For some reason, this activity really affected me. I don’t normally get angry or start physically shaking in class. I can never fully understand the trauma the soldiers on either side of the war went through. Yet even with my shallow level of comprehension, I still feel the soldier’s fear, confusion and anger. In one period, I became a soldier, given up to fate, both afraid and unafraid of imminent death.

I am pleased with the resulting letter. Reading it over again, I can feel the anger the soldier has at everyone, the enemy, his country, even his own family. Without trying to be conceited, I think it turned out well. Well enough to put on a blog, at least.

10/19/1944

Dear Mother and Father,

Your letter did get through, but I can scarcely hope for mine to do the same. We soldiers of the 29^th Infantry Division have been hearing rumors that the army censures any letters hinting at despair. At first, I refused to believe this. Now, I am forced to begin accepting its truth. How else could you still have the hope you do?

When I first signed up for the war, I was as eager as John for some action. The last few months have not been filled with the glory I imagined, however. You write that you are beginning to understand my experience. You could not possibly begin to comprehend the horrors of my experience. When I was in John’s position, I had no fear of losing a hand or leg, or even my life. Now, as my division gets closer to the front lines, I see more and more the horrors other soldiers have faced before me, the horrors that will soon be mine. I am lucky, perhaps, that I have not needed an arm amputated because of a German bullet, or worse, because of a bullet from one of my young and inexperienced fellow soldiers. But perhaps I really am unlucky, because I would have been able to get out of fighting and lay in a hospital and cared for by nurses as nice as Mother. Instead, my fate will be to wait, heart beating, in a ditch until the order comes to throw myself out of the hole and face a German gunman pointing his weapon straight at my fearful heart.

Your letter protects me. I keep it there, above my heart, at all times close. Perhaps your love will save me from the enemy fire.

I hope too, that the war will end soon and that we will be reunited before John faces these same horrors. Yet in these dark times, we can scarcely afford to hope.

Love always,

PFC Harding

29^th Infantry Division

US Army

Gorton's Crossing Crossed Out

I was out of school again on Friday to compete at the American Society of Civil Engineer's 11th annual Popsicle stick bridge competition. My group and I were running late, but we all looked very professional in our dress clothes and matching jamba juice cups. It turned out that we were doing ok on time, though, because the day got started over a half hour late.The Pacifica bridges. Ours is "Gorton's Crossing," in honor of the mural on the side of Pacifica's B Building, on the left. Here's some of our competition:

Pontifexxxxxx...
They used CAD.

This team had the funniest presentation... "...And here's something, I just came up with it right now. Booker T. Washington said, he said somethin' like, 'Everything that's perfect has got its imperfections.' So even imperfect things are perfect..."

What was this bridge thing again? My team and I (Katie, Mike Dang, and Won), have been working on a Posicle stick bridge for the past 2 1/2 months (mostly in the past 2 1/2 weeks, though). We had to build a bridge entirely out of Popsicle sticks and glue that spanned 24", was at least 4" wide and no more than 4" tall, and weighed under 1 lbs. To that we had to write up a technical report and put together a visual display and a 5-minute presentation.

Won looking through Gorton's Crossing

We were something of the guinea pig year. This is the first time Pacifica has entered this competition, so going into it we knew that we wouldn't do too well. If anyone does it next year, they will have more experience (we're trying to convince our junior team to do it again next year). Pacifica happened to be one of the only public schools there, and also one of the only schools that didn't use classtime to complete the bridge.

Mike Dang looking at all the displays.

Enough with the excuses. Yes, we got creamed. Our bridge, which weighed less than 10 ounces, one of the lightest in the competition, held 370 pounds. The strongest bridge held 1160 pounds. We were shocked when we got to the competition site to discover that our bridge was one of the only truss bridges. All the other bridges looked like platforms, with unsupported roadways except at the loading point in the center. It was within the rules, but I don't think I would want to drive on their bridges. Most roads started twisting long before they took 350 pounds.

Setting our bridge in place to be tested.

Ready...

And...

Demolished.

Scores at the end. We're "Pacifica Katie"

The junior team did very well at the impromptu design. Each team was given a sheet of paper and 5 paper clips to build a bridge with, and then it was loaded with pennies. The junior team managed to load the max limit of 200 pennies! Our team only managed to load 73 before it collapsed.

Katie loading pennies.

Overall it was a great experience. For once I wish I wasn't a senior, because this is the type of competition that you do better in after years of experience. If I could, I would do this again, just to see if I could do better. My other teammates are glad it's over, and wouldn't consider doing this again. I don't believe that any of us are planning to go into civil engineering after this (besides the fact that none of us want to be stuck designing parking lots for the rest of our lives!). We'll see, though.

Eye

It looks worse than it feels, I assure you. This is the first time I've worn sunglasses indoors, though. First time I've worn sunglasses at all, really.

At Home

I woke up this morning with my right eye practically swollen shut. After going to the doctor's about it yesterday, I wasn't expecting it to be so bad today. Instead of going to school, I got to sit around a few waiting rooms to see the doctor and an eye doctor. Hopefully, this doesn't happen after every time I fly.

A couple days ago was the Baccalaureate speech qualifications at Pacifica. I won by default, because no other seniors showed up. It was disappointing; there were several people from whom I hoped to hear a speech. Their speeches could have been better than mine, and there are several other students whom I would much rather hear. The district competition is in two weeks, so there is ample time to improve my speech and get it memorized.

Tomorrow the "Bridge-Building Club" is competing at Cal State Long Beach. I'm somewhat nervous, because we aren't nearly as prepared as we should be. We are fully aware that we don't stand a chance against other schools with more experience. Of course we're proud of the fruit of our labors. We only hope for it to withstand a substantial amount of weight.