This class photo was taken in 1972 and we tracked down some of Barack Obama’s fifth-grade pals from Punahou elementary, a private school in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Well. everyone remember barry in Hawaii school
Diana Wahl, whose brother Mark Bendix was one of Barack’s best friends, says: “Barry was one of seven or eight kids who hung out together. They were all straight A and B students and played on the basketball team.
“He was nice and charming and he was a gentleman to me. He always lit up the room when he was there but at the same time he was also just a Joe Regular.”
Mark recalls: “Barry was and is still a great friend. We did sports together, went to the movies together and collected comic books. But it was when we got out of high school that his serious side took over.
“He matured a lot faster than some of us – I think that he realised he wanted to do something important with his life.
“Barry, me and a friend were once talking about what we’d be when we grew up and I remember my pal saying, ‘Barry’s going to be a Supreme Court justice’. We laughed, but maybe he should have aimed a little higher!”
Debbie Ching, another of Barack’s classmates who now works as a business consultant in Honolulu, says: “He was very smart. It’s very surreal to realise that one of your classmates is the President of the United States.”
Barack takes over in January and has pledged to pull US troops out of Iraq, where one of his old pals Mark Solomons is serving as a commander. Mark’s wife Margaret told us: “He’s very proud to have gone to school with Obama.”
The President-elect has kept in touch with a few of his former mates, even while he was running for office.
Classmate Mark Hebing, an artist living in Oregon, said: “I saw Barack in Portland at his rally in May. We got to meet him and wife Michelle and the girls. Now he’s won, I’m going to send him a little message but he needs time to breathe.”
And if things get too sticky in the White House, Barack can always hook up with classmate Rona Wong, who has invented a pill to beat BO.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/11/15/barack-obama-exclusive-where-are-his-school-classmates-now-115875-20895660/