The Year was 1968
The year was 1968 and we were soon to be graduating from High School. The Green Bay Packers repeated as Superbowl II Champions, the Detroit Tigers won the World Series and the Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship. Remember when Bill Pollock, Glenn Johnson, and Jack Campbell were late to Miss Grant's civic class because they were watching the World Series? And do you remember that AFL Championship Game: With the Jets leading 32-29 with only 65 seconds left in the game, the Raiders quickly scored 14 points to win, 43-32, but you didn't get to see the ending because the NBC Television Network cut away to air Heidi.
The year was 1968 and the United States Troop strength in South Vietnam had reached 486,000. More than 9,400 young Americans had lost their life in combat during 1967. On January 30,1968, North Vietnam and the National Liberation Forces (Viet Cong) launched the TET offensive against all the major cities in South Vietnam, including an assault on the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.
The year was 1968 and the Beetles Magical Mystery Tour Album topped the Billboard Charts on 1/27/68. Hey Jude, the Beetles, was the number one song of the year, and Sittin on the Dock of the Bay, by Otis Redding was number one on the Pop Music Charts. The best picture Oscar Award went to Oliver, John Woolf producer, Columbia, and the Best Special Visual Effects Oscar went to Stanley Kubrich, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The "Kings" of the television airways (all three channels) went to Andy Griffin (CBS) with a 27.6 rating and Rowan & Martin (NBC) with a 31.8 rating. Grammy's for Jose Feliciano as the Best New Artist and Song of the Year: Little Green Apples, O.C. Smith singer and Bobby Russell, writer. And who could ever forget the "Quote of the Year: Book 'em Dano" , Jack Lord in Hawaii 5-0.
The year was 1968. President Lyndon B. Johnson stood before an American television audience and announced that he would not seek re-election as President of the United States. This came after Senator Eugene McCarthy's strong showing as a "peace" candidate in the Democratic primaries , Senator Robert Kennedy's decision to enter the Democratic race,and Johnson's own TET-engenderd doubts about his Vietnam policy.
The Year was 1968 and we selected "The Impossible Dream" as our class song, the "Yellow Rose" as our class flower, and "Yellow and White" as our class colors. Did you ever wonder why we didn't select "Black and White"? After all those black letterman jackets really were sharp! And come to think of it, I really preferred "Born Free" for our class song. I am still angry with the "Class of '67" for taking it away from us.
The year was 1968. The Reverend Martin Luther King was assassinated outside his motel room in Memphis, TN. This lead to riots in 125 cities with 46 deaths, 21,270 arrests, and the use of 55,000 Federal and National Guard Troops in riot control.
The year was 1968. All we wanted to do was "Dance to the Music" (Sly and the Family Stone), enjoy "A Beautiful Morning" (The Rascals), and were all "Born to Be Wild" (Steppenwolf). Yep! "Those Were the Days" (Mary Hopkin). We were all preparing to head off to college, to find a job, to get married, and to become rich and famous. At times it was an eternity ago and at others it feels like yesterday. But for most of us the days and years spent walking the halls of NHS were some of the most rewarding and influential years of our life.
Yes, the year was 1968...and We Graduated!