World War II Woman

Time Off

Hi folks,

This blog is taking a vacation - either forever, or maybe just for awhile. I plan to use my time and energy elsewhere.

Meanwhile I thank my loyal readers and appreciate the kind remarks I have received from many. I also thank those of you who have sent me stories and material for use on these pages. The blog will still be here for those people who wish to check past stories, and I will be happy to post any memories I may receive from you, as long as they are easily edited. Send to margaretgeorge@verizon.net.

My book, We Knew We Were at War: Women Remember World War II is available on my website, www.peggeorge.com and in many bookstores, the most recent sites being the Air and Space Museum in San Diego, the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, the Pacific Aviation Museum in Honolulu, and the Gettysburg Museum in the visitor center at the MIlitary National Park.

Thanks for helping to keep history alive.

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Letters from an English Soldier

Bob from Lancaster provided me with information for another blog – again from The Christian Science Monitor, this time the August 26 (our wedding anniversary), 2008 issue. This article tells of letters from World War I now being posted on a blog. These letters from Bill’s grandfather came into Bill’s hands upon the death of his mother, while he was cleaning out the home. Fascinated by the letters, he has now placed them regularly on his blog so that his readers can follow the path of his grandfather. Following his experiences of travel and life in the trenches becomes somewhat of a mystery as each letter unfolds. His blog is http://wwar1.blogspot.com.

As many of you know, during World War II, letters were scrupulously censored. Words could be blacked out, or sometimes scissors were taken to the letter cutting out large portions of the letter.

I am reminded of the incident told by Marian in my book We Knew We Were at War: Women Remember World War II (page 41). Her brother was serving in the Navy as commander of an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) that participated in the D-Day invasion. He was not allowed to tell his whereabouts , but he wrote in a letter to his mother that he had visited Aunt Susie. His mother had a dear friend Susie living in England, so, of course, the family knew where he was.

Letters from the past are important. Jeanne’s mother helped us understand the atmosphere that pervaded American cities on V-J Day (page 29) in a letter she wrote to her son and daughter, who were not living at home. We were listening to Lowell Thomas this evening and immediately after he said, “So long until tomorrow,” the newsrooms in Washington gave the news that the war had ended. Five minutes later the Iron Company whistle began blowing and did not let up for one half hour! The fire sirens started blowing, cars honked their horns, and every kind of noisemaker was used, from sleigh bells to dinner bells…Cars streamed in from the surrounding countryside, decked with banners and overflowing with kids…The manager of the USO was handing out cigars to the soldiers, and the old firehouse bell rang for fifteen minutes, the first time they had used the bell since they retired horses.”

Perhaps you have letters from the World War II period that you could share. If so, I would be happy to publish them here in this blog. At least, please try to preserve them as a part of your family history.

 For more World War II stories, go to www.peggeorge.com

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Milkweed pods for defense

Routine beckons, so here I am back with twice-a-week blog entries in an attempt to help us all understand what life was like back in the early 1940’s. I welcome readers’ comments and also their stories, which I can share with others.

Today’s post comes from Bob, a friend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He supplies me with newspaper clippings every so often. This one comes from the October 23, 2008 issue of the Christian Science Monitor. It’s about milkweed pods and the value of this roadside weed during World War II. Other people have told me of their memories gathering these pods, but this article helps us understand the reason for this activity.

During the war, kapok - a soft, cottonlike material from the kapok tree - was often used to fill life jackets, but the supply of kapok was cut off when Japan occupied Java. A substitute was needed. Floss from the milkweed came to the rescue! A major campaign was launched to involve school children and a slogan was created, “Two bags save one life.” This was the amount needed to fill one life jacket.

Children, including Bob, from all over the United States and Canada were engaged in the project. (I lived in a city and never saw a milkweed pod until many years later.) The pods were sent to the Petoskey Fairgrounds in Michigan to be dried and processed. It’s been estimated that more than 11 millions pounds of milkweed were collected by the end of World War II.

This activity is just one more example of how everyone from school children to grandparents was engaged in the war effort. For more stories, check out the archives of this blog, and also go to www.peggeorge.com.

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An Inconvenience

One evening last week, I unexpectedly came across a TV program featuring the Oak Ridge Boys and Manhein Steamroller as they performed a fundraiser for Feed the Children. One of the groups sang the song about the first Christmas being the most inconvenient Christmas. Yes, it was full of inconveniences.

Can we imagine all the inconveniences the weary travelers faced? Traveling for miles for a stupid census, tired and hungry wondering where they would find food and lodging along with all the other people in the same situation. Patience must have been strained as they pushed and shoved trying to secure that last hotel room or hoping that the wayside stand had a few remaining particles of food. And then we have Mary – about to give birth.

I was reminded of a meditation I recently read in The Progressive Christian about the Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” The writer of the meditation, Pam McAllister, wondered what Phillip Brooks was thinking when he penned the words “stillness, deep sleep and silent stars.” Aside from the silent stars, the town of Bethlehem must have resembled our busy airports at this time of the year – nasty weather hampering travel, flights cancelled, and weary travelers sleeping on benches, the floor, or wherever they can stretch out.

Yes, it is all very inconvenient, as was that first Christmas. Yet in the midst of that weariness, uncertainty, and unhappiness, God came to the world in the form of a newborn child. Today, in the midst of uncertainty, unhappiness, greed, hunger, and war, God is still with us. May God’s presence be felt in your life during this Christmas season, and throughout the entire year.

I’ll be back next year. Merry Christmas.

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Navy experiences in and about the Pacific (continued)

The previous blog about Bob mentions that he saw a Star of David on the outside of a building in Shanghai and asked the rickshaw man to let him off. When Bob entered the building, he found a compound of Russian and Polish refugees who had found a haven there in Shanghai. The compound was basically a food kitchen, providing food and shelter for these wanderers away from home. They were very poor with no source of income. So Bob emptied his pockets.

He wrote home about this experience in a detailed letter. His aunt saw the letter and sent it to Max Lerner, the editor of PM magazine in New York City. Bob’s letter was published.

Years later, Bob and his wife Ruth visited the Jewish museum in Shanghai. They saw a picture of the compound hanging on the wall. When the curator was made aware of Bob’s experience, he asked Bob to relate in more detail what he had found following the war. Bob’s account is now a part of the archives of the museum.

Bob had another experience he related. His aunt was a manufacturer of leather products in New York City. During the war years, she had lost track of one of her leather suppliers from China. This supplier was Lidell and Company in Shanghai. Bob’s aunt asked him to try to track down this company. He went up and down the famous Bund, asking business people if they had any news of him. He learned that Mr. Lidell had been interned by the Japanese, and was just returning to restart his business.

At a reunion of his Navy buddies, Bob discovered one of his shipmates living in a town close by. They became good friends, sharing their common experiences until the death of his former shipmate several years ago.

 For more World War II stories, go to www.peggeorge.com

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Navy Experiences in and about the Pacific

Bob was 17 when he joined the Navy in February of 1944. After boot camp training, he was off to Hawaii where he boarded LST226, not knowing for sure where he was headed. By June 15, he was taking part in the invasion of Saipan. Following the first wave of troops to invade the island, his ship returned to refuel. He spent the next few months in the Marianna Islands

On September 15, Bob took part in the battle at Pelelieu, which turned out to be a terrible disaster. Many American lives were lost. Because the ship’s water tanks were broken up from the coral underneath, the ship headed back for repairs; this time all the way to the States. Bob recalls being in San Diego when President Roosevelt died April 12, 1945.

Shortly after that, he was sent back to the Philippines. He and the others were loading up the ship when they heard the news that the atom bomb had been dropped.

His next assignment was to go to Shanghai to move Japanese military troops out of China and repatriate them to Japan to the port of Kobe.

For the next six months, Bob spent time visiting the sights of Shanghai. One day he noticed a Star of David on the outside of a building and, being Jewish, he told the man pulling the rickshaw to drop him off there. (More about this adventure in the next blog.)

Meanwhile the Navy sent his ship to Hyphong by mistake. When they arrived at Hyphong, the town officials had no idea what to do with them. Further research discovered that the Navy should have sent them to Hainan, where they were to pick up Chinese soldiers to take them to ChinWangTao, where the Great Wall of China joins the sea. Here the Chinese soldiers would join up with Chiang Kai Shek’s forces to fight Mao.

On the lighter side, Bob, a trumpet player tells of going to the Park Hotel, the great hotel in Shanghai, where occasionally the Chinese jazz band asked him to sit in with them.

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The film Australia

Several weeks ago, the day it was released, some friends and I went to see the movie Australia. For some peculiar reason, this film has been receiving very mixed reviews. It was clear to us and to others at the theater and to a number of people to whom I have spoken that it was a very good movie. The setting was most unusual, the characters were well-acted and quite memorable, including the evil guy, and, of course, the little boy. The fact that it was set in the period immediately following Pearl Harbor day added information that many of us were not aware of.

It is easy to be critical of the Australian earlier practice of separating biracial children from their mothers and placing them in mission schools, as shown in the movie. But our record of separating Native American children from their families was just about the same thing.

Back to the World War II reference. I’m sure many of you knew that Australia was attacked within months of the attack on Pearl Harbor. I did not. In the movie, a horrible scene was shown, with many lives lost and utter confusion – much like any attack anywhere, I suppose, whether in an American high school, the streets of Baghdad, a first-class hotel in Mumbai, the twin towers of New York City, or the refugee camps in Somalia.

The attack, planned and led by the commander responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor, occurred on February 19, 1942. At least 188 planes were launched against Darwin where the harbor was full of ships. Many ships were lost and much damage was done to the town of Darwin. At least 243 people were killed and between 300 and 400 were wounded. The attack was dramatically shown on film, particularly as it involved some of the characters we cared about.

I’m glad I saw the movie Australia.

For more  World War II stories, go to www.Peggeorge.com

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