Chapter One
Chasing Rainbows
1946
I was back in Curtis celebrating our 60th Aggie Class Reunion in 2009 when I walked toward the famous “NSA Arch.” This arch was constructed through donations, raised by and dedicated to the memory of the class of ’27, and gained its fame over the years as the entrance to the NSA campus. This was the spot where every new freshman class started their activities as future “Aggies.” Memories came back rapidly about my initiation as a freshman. We had a terrific Freshman Class Motto, “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows,” and as I stood under the arch, I could almost hear Perry Como singing that song, like he did back in the 40’s. There’s a certain joy and satisfaction in remembering what life was like “Back in the Day,” a time when it seems to me that life was simpler. And who doesn’t need that feeling once in a while?
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On a pleasant fall day in 1945 I as a new freshman was excited for both the orientation and the registration at the Nebraska School of Agriculture (NSA) in Curtis. Thoughts were racing through my head as I walked toward the campus; fortunately it was only three blocks from my home. The “Home of the Aggies” was an agricultural high school designed to educate future farmers, ranchers, and country school teachers. My walk over to the campus was with very mixed emotions, I admit that I was both scared and nervous. I was 13 when I started high school, but did turn 14 in January of that first year. The prospects of being able to find my classes alright in Ag Hall (Old Main) left me with sweaty palms and bad dreams. When thrown into the mix with sixteen and seventeen-year olds it was very intimidating.
Walking into that huge building, and running into guys who looked too old to even be in high school was bad enough; but then I got some looks that I felt said, “What are you doing here little boy? You better go back to grade school.” Some of the endearing names given to me by the upper classmen were classic: Peewee, Squirt, Shorty, Small Fry, and anything else that meant little and scared. My reaction was to appear in control, and to smile and laugh at anything they tossed at me. I talked louder and more confidently, but in reality, I was scared to death.