Remember when De Gaulle ordered all foreign troops out of French soil by 1967. I was so devastated by this event. Our junior class (or the whole HS, can't remember) numbered about 125 students at the start of the year, but when I left in April, there were only 25.

It was so painful for me to see classmated leaving by the droves to all corners of the earth. Even though students coming and going was normal in my 11 year experience at DoD schools, to see the whole school desolve was painful. While an honors student through my 3 years at PAHS, my grades plummented at my new school (Watertown High School, MA). I went into a depression. By the end of the Summer of Love, things started to get better.

Was wondering what other people experienced during this traumatic  time.

Hi, Jean-Paul,

It's heart warming to hear your story.  We went to Paris in 1958, I started as a freshman.  My Dad was in the Air Force but was on an assignment where he was attached to the U.S. Embassy.  We lived on the economy.  I think those of us who lived in Paris had a bit more chance to absorb the culture than those who lived in government housing.

My Dad extended so that I could graduate there, but thanks to the cut-back on troops, we left July 18, 1961.  When we got to Colorado Springs and I registered for my senior year, I already had all the required subjects and 3-1/2 more credits than I needed to graduate there at Palmer H.S.  Having to return to the U.S. was so traumatic that I can still feel the emotions these 50+ years later.  I'm so thankful I did get to live in Paris for a little over 3 years, but not graduating with my class was one of the most difficult things I've had to do. 

We were not alone, though.  There were several of us who went through that starting around 1960-61.  Then, it just kept getting worse.

Even though I was only 17 years old, I left July 13th with some older friends and celebrated Bastille Day until July 15th without going home.  My parents knew who I was with, but after I was grown and had my own children, I appreciate what they must have gone through to let me do that.  They knew I was on the verge of running away.  Since I was an only child, that would have hurt them too much.  So, I made it safely back home, finished packing and left 3 days later.

One of the reasons the reunions and being able to connect with other alumni means to much to me now is because my heart is still with PAHS.  It always will be.

We have a nice group on Facebook.  It's a "closed" group so no one sees what we post except members.  We share memories, pictures, adventures and have fun.  We'd be glad to have you join us if you are on Facebook.

My PAHS family helps so much in so many ways.  I've gotten to know old friends much better and made lots of new friends.  In fact, one of my dearest friends is a girl (lady) that was in the very first graduating class!

So, you're not alone.  There's an invisible thread that binds us all together in a very special way.

Best regards,

Joan Jorden Imus '62

I was in the class of '69 and was at the school on the last day.  It was unlike anything I have ever experienced.  I went from being on top of the hill as Freshman class President and Student Council rep Sophmore year in a school teaming with challenge and vitality to one of a handful of survivors in a shell of a building.  On the last day I walked the wide relatively dark halls.  Empty lockers lined the walls with some doors open and others closed.  You could almost feel the buildings standing slump shouldered, head down as the last bus pulled away.

My family rotated back to the States in Jun '67 rather than go to Belgium or Germany.  I was a Junior at Randolph HS at Randolph AFB in San Antonio.  Everyone there knew one another and wondered collectively who the geek in the tie and cashmire sweater was.  "He doesn't even wear jeans!"  Friendships were solid.  The political scene was set.  I continued with football and tennis just to have something to do, but had to prove myself to teammates and classmates who seemed to have "grown up" together.  Thank goodness for Thespians!  Not used to being on the outside looking in, I immersed myself in One Act play competition.  Upon graduation my claim to fame was being voted "Most Friendly" senior, a far cry from my Whitehouse ambitions spawned in Paris!  And, yes, I still have the cashmire sweaters.  They just don't seem to fit as well as they once did!

The only continuing thread from Paris was my quest to attend the Air Force Academy.  I graduated from there in '73 and went on to another life in the Air Force.  The whole PAHS experience confirmed the fact that life should not be judged by one's destination, but rather by the journey! 

I remember seeing you in the hallways from time to time, though believe we never met. Can't image the feelings you felt on that last day of school, as you said " the last bus pulled away".

My Dad opted to retire so we went back to our home in MA. Watertown HS was not in the same class as PAHS. At the end of the junior year, my grades dropped like a rock from all the disappointments. Grades came back up slowly during my senior year, but I never really fully recovered mentalququit>

My "continuing thread from Paris" was also in the AF. Our two girls were born at the WPAFB hospital.

Don't know if you are on Facebook as there are so many Ed Fraziers listed.  If you are a member, then two groups might interest you: PAHS Banter ('50s classes till mid-sixties, and PAHS (mid-sixties till the unfortunate demise of our beloved HS).

It's good connecting with you. Hope things are well you and your family.

jp

Ed Frazier wrote:

Hi Ed,

 I sent you a note just a few hours ago, having just joined. It may have been sent to your e-mail address, or somewhere else on this site.

Hello all,

I was in the class of '66, and for many yrs thought ours was the final class to attend PAHS.

So, the school did not close until 1967? Did the school continue until June of '67?

Though I always thought it was a shame to close the school - I guess I could understand a country asking a bunch of foreign troops to finally move along. WWII had been over for 20 yrs. With their attitude toward the Brits and towards the US during and after the war, I'm surprised they let us stay as long as they did.

tom T.

The closing of PAHS in 1967 was a sad event indeed.  After arriving in Paris in Dec '63, I was convinced it would be the HS I would graduate from.  Earned a Pirates letterjacket, bought a class ring, and three yearbooks.  All that changed in April 1967.

My father was stationed at SHAPE so we eventually moved to Belgium.  Moving again and losing contact with so many friends from PAHS was a saddening experience, but I wouldn't characterize it as traumatic.  As a military "brat" that was just how it was, either you moved away or your friends moved away.  Keeping in touch with those friends was the challenge.  So many had been "lost" but are now being found again thanks to the internet and the social networks.

In 2007, my wife and I had an opportunity to return to Garches to see what had become of PAHS.  We were surprised to find it is still standing and being used as a school!  It is what we knew as ISP (International School of Paris).  All the old buildings we knew are there along with some newer classroom buildings.  We requested authorization to walk the grounds but were denied since we hadn't made the request in advance and the person to grant permission was not there.  It was a heartwarming experience for me and my wife enjoyed going back to my past.  We visited other frequented areas as Bel Manoir, the Teen Club, Petit Beauregard, Camp Desloges, and Camp Voluceau.  So many memories!

Lawrence:
My name is Bart Bartlett and I graduated from PAHS in 1957. My wife Barbara was at PAHS in 1967 at the time of its closing when France withdrew from NATO. Her father was assigned to EUCOM and so they went to Stuttgart rather then Belgium.

Barbara and I also went back to Paris but did so in 2008. Fortunately I had arranged for a tour of what is now the American School of Paris and we were gratiously escorted all around the campus - both inside and out by the assistant headmaster. We were very pleased to see the care and the attention the ASP had given to the school buildings.

If you go to my profile on the PAHS web site and the class of 57 I have posted several photos of dear ole PAHS as it now appears. I will try to post a few more over the next week or so. What a marvelous change. Barbara was particularly pleased to see that the old sports track at the rear of the school had been removed as she had been forced to run that track every day!  

Sorry you were not able to actually tour the school but you may rest assured that it is now in very capable hands and is in even better condition than when we were there.

Bart

I enjoyed hearing about your revisit at the reunion.

I just saw this and wanted to reply. I started at P.A.H.S. in 1959 (1st grade) and was there until  the last day. It was not fun watching friends go all over the world that year. We went to S.H.A.P.E. Belgium for two years the Florida for my junior and senior years. I HATED it, just not the same culture as DOD schools. I was lucky enough to have friends who left P.A.H.S. then return several years later ( still in touch today) I do miss the way of life we had there: teen club, PX, summer sports etc... 

Thanks for this post. Great to see pictures of PAHS once again. Unlike Barbara, though, I kinda miss the track. I was on the track team (mile run) and have memories of many gruelling hours running those cinders in the Spring of 1967. More pleasant in the recollection than it was at the time!

I was also at PAHS in its last year before it closed, 1966-67, which was my junior year.  By the way, I left a good pair of spiked track shoes in a locker in the boys' room in the gym. Before I could retrieve them after the track season ended, all the lockers had been removed.

Worse than losing those shoes was missing all the friends that moved out during that year.

This is Dick Edwards, Class of 66'  - When I graduated in 66 and returned to the University of Nevada to start college my plan was to come back to Paris in the summer of 67 and stay with my parents for one last summer in Paris.  In Feb. 67 I learned that my parents would be returning early because of the order for all troops to leave and my plans for a summer in Paris did not pan out.  My dad was stationed at Travis AFB, CA for his last assignment.  At the end of my freshman year at Nevada in May of 67, I came up with the idea that a trip to Paris in the summer with some of my college fraternity brothers would be a "great idea!"  When I posed the plan, my dad merely looked at me and said I started work at the Travis AFB gas station in a few days.  Somehow pumping gas at Travis during the summer of 67 did not quite match up with a summer in Paris.  However, I was close to San Francisco for the "Summer of Love."  I finally made it back to Paris 40 years later when I returned with my wife in 06.  A lot of great memories of PAHS came flooding back as we walked the grounds of PAHS, which was now the American School of Paris.  Those were wonderful years at PAHS!  Best regards to all PAHS Pirates!

I remember so many friends - Ed, Dona, Kathy, Star, Denise, Bob Kerns, Diane, Barbie, Brian and Mark…..

I attended PAHS 1965-67 as a freshman and sophomore - and loved everything and everyone at PAHS. I attended EVERY dance at the AYA, and didn't miss a dance at school (my mother sewed hundreds of hours on those dresses); I kind of "grew up" at PAHS - being an officer's daughter and all that entails and yet have the liberties of being out in Paris with friends. 

All that came to an end in 1967 when Charles De Gaulle asked the Americans to leave France after France pulled out of NATO. My father was EUCOM, so my family moved to Stuttgart; most of friend’s fathers were NATO which meant they went to Brussels. I was a military brat and had already attended seven different schools and a pro at moving/leaving/ meeting new friends/moving/leaving/meeting new friends…. but when the student body of PAHS was split and sent in different directions, it was as if as the building itself created a gigantic chasm down the middle. 

Living in Paris is a memory most American teenagers don't have, but it was the school itself and the students and teachers that made my life in Paris such a great experience.

Fellow Former PAHS Classmates, 

Our experiences as young people in/around Paris (my sister Carol Becker and I were PAHS dorm students from Fontainebleau) have shaped who we are...and having been Paris American High students is part of our identity. Your heart-breaking farewell is the stuff that so-motivated "our" late Jack Mauldin, who, through his great disappointment at not being able to finish his last year of high school at Paris, "found" so many of us and worked to put together that first reunion in Washington, D.C.  (was it in 1983? and before social media...which gives us a greater appreciation for what he accomplished at the time). 

Barbara, your mention of the "students and teachers" who made life at PAHS memorable prompts me to ask if you / any other former PAHS classmates might remember your last French teacher before PAHS closed.  By some amazing coincidence (and almost 50 years later), I happened to meet her--"Michelle" last Sunday (Aug 3,2014) at a wedding reception in Williamsburg, Virginia.  

I don't know what Michelle's last name was "then" (she was probably a young bride at the time...her husband, I was told, worked with IBM in Paris); but when I introduced myself to this lovely French lady through a mutual friend at the wedding last Sunday--telling her I had graduated from PAHS in 1962--to my great surprise, she asked, "at Garches?" and added that she had been the French language teacher there before PAHS' closing.  What a small world.  

Does anyone remember Michelle as their teacher--and her last name, then?

My French teacher (1960-1962) was possibly Michelle's predecessor--Mademoiselle Yvonne Taranger...until Yvonne married and became Madame Y. Lunt.

Joanne (Becker) Re   1962 PAHS Grad

As I get older, my memory gets shorter.  So, I whipped out the 1965, 1966, and 1967 editions of "Les Parisiens".  Grace Ellenberg, Yvonne Lunt, Leone Peneau, were there all 3 years. Others were listed for only one year each:  Armand Bauduin '(65), Madeleine Herault ('65), Nora Lynskey ('66), Franciose Costa ('67) and Monique Young ('67).  But, no Michelle was listed in those years.  Maybe she was a temporary hire for the final months and was not depicted in the yearbook?