Jackson Advocate

Negro Girl Graduates From Okinawa School

Okinawa, June 22. The American Dependent high school on the island of Okinawa included among its 18 graduates from many parts of the world one Negro girl, Ohio born Doris Faust.

The dependent schools here are operated by American occupying forces under the command of Maj. Gen. David A. D. Ogden. More than 1,200 dependent children from the United States, the Philippines attend.

Daughter of Warrant Officer and Mrs. Luck Faust. Doris has been in and out of many schools in the United States and Hawaii since she first entered kindergarten in Rossford, Ohio, about 11 years ago. This is because Mr. Faust has been in the Army since she was three months old. He is now a Chief Warrant Officer in the Regular Army.

Rossford, Ohio was only where Doris happened to be when she started school; before her first year ended, her dad received orders for Ft. Dix, N. J. and found living accommodations for his family at Corona, Long Island. Mr. Faust remained at this station until the outbreak of World War II when he received orders for overseas and served in the European Theater of Action. Mrs. Faust and Doris remaining in Corona until his return making this the longest period Doris has remained in any one school.

"Doris has been to so many schools that I can't remember them all," says her mother. Doris is an only child and even though her mother doesn't think she is a spoiled child, Mrs. Faust admits that she is the gem of the family.

Following World War II, Mr. Faust's next overseas assignment was Hawaii which was especially fascinating to Doris. She recalls her school days there with pleasure.

Fortunately, her father has usually received assignments in areas where schools are very adequate and non-segregated. However, her mother recalls one stretch in Texas when Doris remained behind in New York with her grandmother while she joined her husband.

By the time daughter Doris was ready for the ninth grade, dad was stationed at Ft. Lewis, Wash., where the family lived on the post. She attended the Clover Park high school there in what Mrs. Faust described as an exclusive neighborhood.

Then came Korea for Mr. Faust. After school was out, the female portion of the Faust family moved to Oakland, Calif., where Doris attended Castle Mount High school in East Oakland. They joined Mr. Faust on Okinawa in the middle of her senior year.

Moving to Okinawa certainly changed Doris' school plans because she had already received her class ring from Castle Mount High.