Members of Hagerstown High School's class of 1940 who were killed in World War II or the Korean Conflict were Pvt. William Bruce, Pfc. Warren Roth, Pvt. John W. Ernst, Sgt. George Shantz, Jr., 2nd. Lt. C. Donald Fiery, Lt. John Robert Wagner, 1st. Lt. Eugene C. Paulsgrove, Cpl. Charles I. Wingert, and 2nd. Lt. Philip B. Spielman, the class valedictorian. Their devotion and courage were the same; fate determined the difference.