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John “Jack” Hackman enlisted in February 1942, when he was still a freshman at STC (Towson University), just two months after the attack at Pearl Harbor and the US’ entrance into WWII. He joined the US Army Air Forces and was made a pilot in July of 1944.
On October 22, 1944, the Liberator bomber he was co-piloting lost control as it was taking off from an airstrip at the Davis-Monthan Army Air Field in Arizona. The plane burst into flames as it struck the ground, killing six on board, including Hackman.
While he was on campus for only a brief time, he was known as a talented piano player and wrote the song for the Class of 1945.
Six months after his death, his mother wrote to the school:
Jack was very proud of his school and especially so of the splendid record which its students in the armed forces have made. While going thorough training his greatest concern was that he might not be able to live up to that record. When he finally received his wings last June, he seemed to derive more pleasure from knowing that he had not let us, his family, or his school down, than any feeling of personal achievement.
Class of 1945 song written by Hackman. From the Summer 1944 Tower Light.