I have become enamored with the time and events of the Second World War, with the time period and people who inhabited it. I guess the time span is a little more than the four years from 1941-1945. Historians look at as beginning with the Depression from 1929 to about 1950. I think of it as 1936 till I graduation high school about 1954. For Europe the War started in 1939 and Hitler's power was significant by 1933.
Tom Brokaw called it "The Greatest Generation." I look at it as a great generation. I am a product of that time and those events. I am not quite old enough to be included, just a Johnny-come-lately to the party or the depression or the war.
I reflect on the period in old movies and historical presentations about the depression and the war. They were phenomenal people. I remember my parents and the other adults that represented my world--aunts, uncles, family friends--who were the important people to me. I remember the ones who went to war and the ones who stayed home to operate the businesses and teach school and farm the land. We laughed about "meatless Tuesday" at the grocery store. The meat market was not in operation on Tuesdays. The butcher's counter was cleaned and spotless, but the saw and knives were stored pristine, and the cooler kept the meat safe until another day.
Mama kept her ration stamps in a leather wallet to purchase sugar, meat, and other essentials that were in short supply. She was very proud that I qualified as a person but I didn't eat very much. It gave her and Daddy a little buffer in the usual allowance for two people.
Mama volunteered to help with some projects sponsored by the Red Cross and other agencies in town. I was very envious because I wasn't allowed in their meetings. I thought it was very short-sighted of them. Daddy worked at the bank, the only one in town. He received a commendation for selling War Bonds. I was impressed.
I think about the time and the people as just the way things were during my childhood until I see it set against the Holocaust, the devastation of Europe, and the changes that came after the War was over. The Atomic Bomb marked our world forever with the power of nuclear fusion. Of course I heard about it in 1945, but it took a long time for me to understand what it meant in the larger context. Maybe all of us were charged with a more challenging view of the world. Maybe I'm still learning it.
Tom Brokaw called it "The Greatest Generation." I look at it as a great generation. I am a product of that time and those events. I am not quite old enough to be included, just a Johnny-come-lately to the party or the depression or the war.
I reflect on the period in old movies and historical presentations about the depression and the war. They were phenomenal people. I remember my parents and the other adults that represented my world--aunts, uncles, family friends--who were the important people to me. I remember the ones who went to war and the ones who stayed home to operate the businesses and teach school and farm the land. We laughed about "meatless Tuesday" at the grocery store. The meat market was not in operation on Tuesdays. The butcher's counter was cleaned and spotless, but the saw and knives were stored pristine, and the cooler kept the meat safe until another day.
Mama kept her ration stamps in a leather wallet to purchase sugar, meat, and other essentials that were in short supply. She was very proud that I qualified as a person but I didn't eat very much. It gave her and Daddy a little buffer in the usual allowance for two people.
Mama volunteered to help with some projects sponsored by the Red Cross and other agencies in town. I was very envious because I wasn't allowed in their meetings. I thought it was very short-sighted of them. Daddy worked at the bank, the only one in town. He received a commendation for selling War Bonds. I was impressed.
I think about the time and the people as just the way things were during my childhood until I see it set against the Holocaust, the devastation of Europe, and the changes that came after the War was over. The Atomic Bomb marked our world forever with the power of nuclear fusion. Of course I heard about it in 1945, but it took a long time for me to understand what it meant in the larger context. Maybe all of us were charged with a more challenging view of the world. Maybe I'm still learning it.
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