Anyone remember WWII?

[MRSDOUGLAS]

My mom is collecting stories from the home front during WWII and asked if I knew anyone at work that may have a family member who remembered. I struck out there but thought some folks here may remember or have family who did.

Here is my mom's request:

************************
I was Thinking that stories of the home front during WWII are being lost by the thousands every day. I hope tht some of you would share your stories. My goal is to collect enough stories to make an anthology, publish and all proceeds go to Alzheimers research. Here are a few ideas to help bring up experiences you may have forgotten as well as stories you have heard from others who actually lived through it. If each says there isn't enough to make an entire story can have group stories. Some stories are reported long after the war so are reported by children & grandchildren. They can be given to me, e-mail or mailed. Please remember, when with folks who may have lived during that time, to ask them about their experience. Every one is different. It takes time to bring up these memories, and takes some thought over time.


Thanks,

Jackie Penning

jackiepen @ cableone . net

Will do phone interviews for those who would rather talk than write. A group can get together and share stories, making a group event out of it, "The Birthday Club," or any group you get together with. This is fun!

TO START IDEAS FLOWING ----

What were you doing when the war started?
Who did you live with, where did you live?
Who were your neighbors?
How were these lives changed by the war?
Was your diet influenced by the war, travel, occupations, health, clothing?
What were you doing when the war ended?
What happened when those who were away returned after the war?

****************************

Thanks for reading.

dawn

 

[oldballs]

Random Rememberances:

I was 9 years old in 1941. We were poor, but post the Great Depression, so were a lot of folks. I had two loving parents.
Rationing of sugar, meat etc was the norm. The govm't issued "Ration Books" with stamps that allotted us to buy only so much of certain foods. One couldn't hardly find a new tire. We learned how to struggle with flat tires by remounting them with "boots" inside. We saved grease and metal that was left at pick up places to go to the war effort. Our cereal boxes had silhouttes of ours and enemy airplanes that we studied.
People were rated by their employment as to how much gas they could buy. A sticker was put into the window of autos telling how much gas they were allotted.
My Dad wore out our 1939 Plymouth driving to a distant Munitions Plant installing high tension electricity to the plant. Thereafter he was employed making B25 Bombers. He was also a member of the "CD", i.e. the Civilian Defence corps. We was classified to be in the Signal Corps if the draft got up to his age.
In our Catholic School we practiced air raid drills by hiding under our desks. The Sisters timed us to see how long it took to get from school to our homes.....walking, of course. We also had prayer cards that we accumulated prayers on like sticker stars that we mailed to our relatives who were soldiers.
When we received mail from our relatives, it was some kind of photo thing that had lots of the lines censored out.
We learned terms like "Fatso", "Ratso', and "Japso" for Musolinni, ****** and Hirohito. Some of our German friends would never speak in public the language they knew so well. We also learned gov't slogans like "Loose lips, sink ships".
When my uncle came home from the infantry, being wounded (discharged) he gave me his Lieutenant's dress hat. I was so proud that I wore it to school by stuffing it with paper to get it on my head. I asked my other Marine uncle if he killed any Japs. He didn't say much other than that he had fried a few with a flame thrower.
I can still tell the sound of many WWII aircraft when they come to town for an air show.
Today, I prayed for those of the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers" as well as my uncles.....and many others. I raise the American Flag every day in their honor.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Perhaps this isn’t a ‘war story’ but a short description of how it was here at home during those times>

I was only 4 when the war broke out. Dad had been working up in East Texas a couple of years prior for the CCC; most on here probably don’t know what the CCC was. Civilian Conservation Corps. – building roads and bridges.

Dad was deaf. Had been for 15 years after swimming in a lake. Doctors back then really didn’t know ‘why’ he was deaf, but he couldn’t hear thunder. We moved from East Texas, the unincorporated area called Black Jack on the Attoyac River, due to there not being any work after the CCC was closed off in 1942.
He was promptly conscripted to work at Todd Shipyards near Texas City. Since he was deaf, the logical job he was assigned to was running a jack hammer. That lasted about 15 minutes. The vibration of the jack hammer jarred him so bad it shook the water out of his ears. Suddenly the sound was so deafening they had to take him off of that job, and put him to carpentering… something he’d never done in his life.
With that forced on-the-job training he began a career which he’d follow for the next 40 years in the Houston area.

But – back to the war effort. I recall Dad having a ’36 Plymouth coupe. It was a two seat’er for our family of 4. We’d frequently go back ‘home’ to Black Jack to visit family. Carrying two casings was the norm. All tires on the car were bald, and one could expect to have a least one flat on that 200 mile trip. Having a flat didn’t mean changing a tire – it meant breaking the tire off the rim, patching the tube, and usually putting on another worn out casing on the rim. Then ‘all’ you had to do was to pump up the tire with a hand pump.
My brother and I would have to sit in back in the rumble seat, regardless of rain or cold. That was the only place to sit. And we never gave it a second thought. I suppose we assumed that was the norm.
Gasoline was rationed as were a lot of things. Dad would save coupons to buy a full tank of gas for our East Texas visits. I recall Dad bringing home souvenirs from work like target bombs, alloy pennies, etc.
Things were hard. We ate a lot of peas and cornbread back in those war days. We raised chickens too but were careful to spread that meal out to ‘occasional’. Lunch often meant a ketchup or relish spread sandwich. Sometimes Mom would shape cooked peas into a patty and call it Salmon. We didn’t know the difference, so I suppose it really didn’t matter.
Clothes were also scarce. We’d have two pair of khaki britches and two feed-sack shirts. Wear one while the other was washed and ironed. Britches always had a patch or two, but again, we thought that was normal. One pair of shoes per year too, always just before school started. They were expected to last until summer. Then it was barefoot time for 3 months.
Things like metal and rubber items were all allocated. We, and everyone else, were glad to make the sacrifice though.

 

[MRSDOUGLAS]

Thanks everyone, these are great! Stories from the home front are what she is looking for. Keep em coming! You can also put them in an e-mail direct to her address in the first post.

 

[dmccarty]

Ancestry.com had a special this weekend where you could search military records. I should have mentioned this earlier. DUH. I have searched from my grand fathers and not found much information.

One grandfather was in the USMC before WWII. We have various stories about him, he was a bodyguard for Admiral Nimitiz for a time and we think he was in combat in the Pacific but we just don't have good records. We know he was with the 1st Marine division that landed at Inchon in the Korean war and that he was one of the Frozen Chosin as well. He was in some heavy fighting in Korea and we think he was in WWII but we just don't have any records and he died long ago.

My mother and I have been talking about my other grandfather and have put together a few bits and pieces. I had hoped we could find out more info from the military records on Ancestry.com but no joy. At one point I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer and I used to draw up plane designs. :laughing::laughing::laughing: I had three years of drafting in high school so at least I knew how to draw stuff. My grandfather's brother was a pilot in WWII and was KIA/MIA in the Pacific. For years my grandfather had an aeronautical engineering book that was his brothers and I read through that book a couple of times. My grandfather saw my interest in airplanes and made a comment that my cousin and I heard. The comment was that my grandfather did not like to be in tight spaces and that during the war he was building aircraft in Baltimore, MD. Best I can tell he was building twin engine medium bombers like the B26 Marauder though it is possible he worked on the Maryland and Baltimore bombers. Talking with family it appears that my grandfather's job had him working INSIDE the wings helping rivet the structure. That tight space with the very loud noise from the riveting was not something he liked at all. He mentioned this to me and my cousin out of the blue one day.

In March of 1945 he enlisted in the Army. By this time he was married had a couple of kids AND he was in a job that prevented him from being drafted yet he enlisted anyway. My guess is that working in the wings was too much for him, his brothers were off fighting and dying in the war, and that he felt he had to join up and do his part. My grandmother DID NOT like him joining up and it caused some angst in the marriage. I can remember my grandmother being "spoiled" by my grandfather and I never thought much of it but I wonder now if his spoiling her was partly because of his joining the Army and leaving her alone to take care of a few children...

So what did my grandfather do in the war? We don't really know. He had coins from the Philippine's and my mother saw photos of him in combat. The only records we can find of him showed his enlistment information and when he got out of the Army 16 months later. There is no information on his MOS or what or where he went. You would think if he had been building aircraft they Army would have put him in the Air Corps but it looks like he was in the Infantry, possibly as a replacement in a unit that was fighting in the Philippines. But it is all just a guess based on some old photos that have disappeared and coins. He never talked about the war to anyone and based on the limited records we have it looks like he did not do much but then there are the combat photos. It is a mystery that I don't think we will ever solve since he died a few years ago and my grandmother does not know either.

The one thing he did for many, many years was to give blood. He gave blood every chance he could which leads me to believe that he did see combat in the Philippines.

Later,
Dan

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Here's a hint for you.
When your parents or grandparents tell you these stories, go back and write them down as soon as you can. Even better, record them telling those stories. Then you'll have a record you can go back and listen to when they're gone. My father died last year and let me tell you; it sure would be nice to be able to hear his voice again, even if only off an audio CD or DVD.

 

[teejk]

Not many people still alive from that war. I was on job assignment in the London area a few years ago and my wife's parents visited for Christmas. We took a ferry from England to Normandy. The best trip I ever took. Seeing first hand June 6 1944 still sends tingles up my spine. There are a few good museums there that one could spend days in.

 

[teejk]

Not many people still alive from that war. I was on job assignment in the London area a few years ago and my wife's parents visited for Christmas. We took a ferry from England to Normandy. The best trip I ever took. Seeing first hand June 6 1944 still sends tingles up my spine. There are a few good museums there that one could spend days in.

I forgot to mention that a good friend of mine's father snuck in a camera to one of the death camps that he helped liberate in 1945...a few times my friend will drag out that shoe-box of those old black and white photos (maybe 3x2 with the jagged edges). Another very good friend used to tell stories of occupying the old French villages and feasting on the wine and champagne.

 

[J F]

Great thread. My grandmother (who will be 90 later this year), was a VA nurse for 30 years. Talk about a lot of great stories (and very sad ones, as well).

And vets from so many arenas that our American troops have been in. She retired in the mid/late 70's, think about the old vets she took care of in the beginning of her career. Civil war, Spanish-American war, WWI, WWII.

It's amazing how fortunate all of us are. :thumbsup:

 

[JRobyn]

"out of the blue one day......"

"He never talked about the war to anyone....."

"Great thread."

Amen, +1!! My dad never talked about his war experiences, EXCEPT when he stayed with us while my stepmom was hospitalized and then in nursing care, he would sit at our kitchen table and talk a blue streak about it to my wife. For hours and hours! If I walked in, he stopped. I told her on Monday that I was thankful that she was there for him to be his sounding board.

 

[Coginchaug]

My father in law still has all his "V" mail from when he wrote home, great stuff to read. He drove an ambulance for the American Field service.

 

[tcartwri]

My Dad joined the Merchant Marine at the age of fifteen with two buddies, running convoys to Europe out of Halifax. His two buds were killed by a U-boat within one hour of leaving Halifax on their very first outing. My son is fifteen now, and it's hard to imagine him in the same situation.

 

[MRSDOUGLAS]

My mom is the family historian. She recorded stories from all the family members and has made a great book for each of the kids. I love going back to find the story I don't quite remember. What got her started on this project was an assignment in a writing group she joined. She realized that there were many more stories documented by and about people who were IN the war, but not so much about what life was like ion the home front.

It is all good, thanks to all who have shared their stories. I may send a PM to some of you to ask for your name so she can give credit where credit is due if she ever does get her collection published.

 

[farm88]

Great thread. My grandmother (who will be 90 later this year), was a VA nurse for 30 years. Talk about a lot of great stories (and very sad ones, as well).

And vets from so many arenas that our American troops have been in. She retired in the mid/late 70's, think about the old vets she took care of in the beginning of her career. Civil war, Spanish-American war, WWI, WWII.

It's amazing how fortunate all of us are. :thumbsup:

What part of Virgina was your granny a nurse in?

 

[DKCDKC]

My uncle went down to volunteer after Pearl Harbor, but they wouldn't take him because he was blind in one eye. He went to work for Wright Brothers Aviation as an engineer and several times volunteered to fly new bombers or other aircraft from the US to England... He said they followed a route over Canada, up near the Arctic Circle and down to England to avoid interception. He had long had a pilot's license, but the military just wasn't interested in him... One of the big disappointments of his life was not flying bombers over Germany.

Another uncle was also refused entrance to the military but was taken in military intelligence and got into cryptology and breaking Japanese codes during the war. He was apparently good at it and spent the rest of his long life in the field working for NSA and CIA. We never knew what he really did, but, when he died, he had a number of Presidential citations on his walls for major contributions to the nation... But with no details as to what the contributions were.

Both men passed away in their late 80s.

 

[mjarrels]

Uncle was a B-29 aircrew stationed in the Philippines and flew a photo mission over Japan right after the nuke bombings. Died of old age in his mid 80's.

mark

 

[RobertN]

An interesting place to find out info, is go to one of the museum ships. I have taken Boy Scout to CV12 USS-Hornet for merit badge programs and the overnight programs. Met WWII vets that served and were still docent's. Was interesting to hear them talk, and the descriptions of the changes in the ship over the years. Met one Vet at Palm Springs Air Museum at their Corsair F4U display; he had flown those planes off USS Hornet in WWII and Korea.

This video is from a docent on the USS Hornet. One Corsair making bouncy landing was the guy from the Palm Springs Air Museum; this is post WWII, but ships and at least prop planes are same config as flown in WWII(note ships still had straight deck; angle deck conversion came later). Julie from Palm Springs(cant remember his last name) flew in WWII thru Korea and the transition to jets)

Carrier Operations 1953-54 - YouTube

Interesting article about WWII Vet who crewed on bomber shot down over Germany

Remembering the war: WWII vet recalls combat and liberation Mountain Democrat

 

[2LaneCruzer]

My mom is collecting stories from the home front during WWII and asked if I knew anyone at work that may have a family member who remembered. I struck out there but thought some folks here may remember or have family who did.

Here is my mom's request:

************************
I was Thinking that stories of the home front during WWII are being lost by the thousands every day. I hope tht some of you would share your stories. My goal is to collect enough stories to make an anthology, publish and all proceeds go to Alzheimers research. Here are a few ideas to help bring up experiences you may have forgotten as well as stories you have heard from others who actually lived through it. If each says there isn't enough to make an entire story can have group stories. Some stories are reported long after the war so are reported by children & grandchildren. They can be given to me, e-mail or mailed. Please remember, when with folks who may have lived during that time, to ask them about their experience. Every one is different. It takes time to bring up these memories, and takes some thought over time.


Thanks,

Jackie Penning

jackiepen @ cableone . net

Will do phone interviews for those who would rather talk than write. A group can get together and share stories, making a group event out of it, "The Birthday Club," or any group you get together with. This is fun!

TO START IDEAS FLOWING ----

What were you doing when the war started?
Who did you live with, where did you live?
Who were your neighbors?
How were these lives changed by the war?
Was your diet influenced by the war, travel, occupations, health, clothing?
What were you doing when the war ended?
What happened when those who were away returned after the war?

****************************

Thanks for reading.

dawn

Do you have a time limit? I have been intending to write my story for my kids and grandkids and this will give me a good excuse...do need some time though.

 

[dmccarty]

My Dad joined the Merchant Marine at the age of fifteen with two buddies, running convoys to Europe out of Halifax. His two buds were killed by a U-boat within one hour of leaving Halifax on their very first outing. My son is fifteen now, and it's hard to imagine him in the same situation.

The Merchant Marine suffered more KIA, based on the ratio of service members to KIA, than any other US service. The Merchant Marine had a KIA rate of 3.9% vs the USMC at 3.7%. This is not well known, and their service of getting supplies to not only feed civilians in the UK during the war, but supply the military was critical. Without the beans and bullets, the guy with the rifle ain't real useful for very long.

When fact checking my memory, I came across this page, American Merchant Marine in World War 2 which was interesting. Some of the stories on the link I have read before but then there was this one:

The Massacre of the SS Jean Nicolet
The Liberty ship SS Jean Nicolet was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on July 2, 1944, off Ceylon (Sri Lanka). She had a 41-man crew, plus 28 Armed Guard, 30 passengers and an Army medic. All survived the explosion. They were taken aboard the sub and their lifeboats and rafts were sunk. With their hands tied behind their backs they were forced to sit on deck. Japanese sailors massacred many with bayonets and rifle butts. Thirty survivors were still on deck with their hands tied when a British plane appeared. The sub crash-dived, washing the survivors into the sea. Only 23 were rescued.

People went off to war at a very early age. The power monkeys in the Royal Navy during the age of Iron Men and Wooden Ships were children. Officers could be young teenagers or even children. Hard to believe a boy would be put in charge of men but it is what happened. Admiral Nelson was the Captain of a ship at the age of 20. I think he may have been the acting Captain for long periods of time on previous ships when he was the XO and his CO was sent home or sick. People back then did some things that were remarkable.

Later,
Dan

 

[J F]

What part of Virgina was your granny a nurse in?

Sorry, VA is for Veterans Administration. My family did live in Chesterfield county Virginia for a few years when my brother and I were kids. Beautiful state.