1919 Cedrus Yearbook

MIMob 19 n E122. 19 IN MEMORIAM T IS fitting that we should remember upon his birthday WALLACE COOPER ANpERSON, youngest son of William and Emma Ander- son, howas born near Xenia on February 7, 1898, and was killed in an accident at sea near Pensacola Naval Air Station on October 30, 1918. The early part of his life was spent near and in Cedarville, and those of the community here sincerely mourn his untimely death. After a year spent in Cedarville College, he went west to join his brother, and there entered Cooper College in Sterling, Kansas. It was while in that institu- tion that the call of his country came to him so strongly that he volun- teered his services in the navy. For two months he was at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, thence was transferred to the Pensacola Naval Air Station where he served during a period of four months until his death. Friends here and in the service unite in expressing their appreciation of his character and influence. We of Cedarville College point with mingled pride and sorrow to the gold star on our flag which symbolizes the sacri- fice of a loyal and unselfish youth to the cause of country and of humanity. At the time of Wallace Anderson's enlistment, the president of his college spoke to him seriously of the dangers attendant upon the service into which he was going. His answer showed a spirit of which his parents and friends may well be proud. "If Christians," he said,"have not the courage to give up their all for the sake of right and justice, who will!" In his death we see exemplified the great principle of sacrifice even to th3 uttermost, for the sake of righteousness and Christianity. His friends in the United States service respected his quiet, but none the less firm, Christian convictions, and admired the qualities of his character. "We shall miss Wallace from our midst," writes his chaplain at Pensacola,"and are proud to have known him. He was a lovable character and a loyal man who willingly gave his life that justice and righteousness might remain on earth." Another friend says of him,"He was a thorough student of the Bible. As we talked together man to man,I know his life was pure and his ideals high." Wallace Anderson has gone home, but his ideals and influence still live in our midst. In his calm preparation for whatever might befall him, and in the tragic suddenness of his death, he left a message of inspiration to all who knew and loved him. "Taps" has been sounded above his grave, but his spirit still lives. "Like the day star in the wave Links a hero to his grave Midst the dew-fall of a nation's tears: Happy is he o'er whose decline The smiles of home may soothing shine And light him down the steep of years; But,oh!how grand they sink to rest Who close their eyes on Victory's breast." 39