This is a transcript of the USIS Release dated March 27, 1961 about the American Community School 8th Grade Graduation exercises.

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SECRETARY TRAN HUU THE AND AMBASSADOR DURBROW

CONGRADULATE GRADUATING AMERICAN STUDENTS

Graduation exercises were held for 34 students of the 8th Grade at the American Community School March 24. They were addressed by Secretary of State for National Education Tran Huu The and by Ambassador Elbridge Durbrow.

Expressing his pleasure in being there, Dr. The went on to observe: “The students here are in an American school, but they are also on the Vietnamese land. They can thus enrich the knowledge and experience which they received in school with facts and observations of their own. For this reason, I am convinced the American Community School serves to promote a better understanding between American and Vietnamese people.”

Dr. The expressed the hope that the students who will soon be leaving for America will look back with pleasure on their experiences in Vietnam.

Ambassador Durbrow told the graduates that in knowledge there is power and in knowledge of the past there is strength – and in both lie the key to individual advancement. In the cold war in which we live, he declared, and educated and informed citizenry is vital for survival.

Graduating with highest honors was Michele Marguerite Gendron. Those who had earned High Honors were Willard John Boynton, Barbara Jean Bush, Dallas D. Dawson II, Geoffery Johnson, Katy K. Liu, Karen Maru Novick, Stephen John Pryplesh, and Arlene L. Zucker.

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I think we all look back with pleasure on our experiences in Vietnam, as Dr. The hoped we would.

As always you are welcome to leave your comments below.

Bob