World War II Woman

A Weekend in the Mid-West

Recently I had the opportunity to visit friends of many years who have moved to the Mid-west. Rachel has advanced Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a nursing home; Bill is slowing down somewhat and lives alone in an apartment. They manage, thanks to caring communities and because of the loving care of grown children who also live in the vicinity.

I was anxious about the visit, but my daughter and their daughter are friends and together they engineered this opportunity for us to meet after six years in which many changes have taken place in our lives. After a brief five seconds and my repeating my name twice did the recognition seep into Rachel’s brain. With cries of delight and arms extended, we embraced as we have never embraced before. She may have forgotten my visit the next day, but I shall remember it as long as I live.

Bill has always been a great storyteller, and he delighted us once again. I managed to steer the conversation to his experiences during World War II. (Rachel’s memories appear on page 79 of my book We Knew We Were at War: Women Remember World War II.) At the age of 18, Bill, who grew up in north Jersey, joined the Army Air Corps. He first trained at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, and then on to various training camps throughout the country, finally arriving at Seattle to be transported to Hawaii by ship. He then flew to Saipan where he was flight engineer on a number of bombing missions.

Bill was not only seasick traveling to Hawaii, but also airsick, not a pleasant experience for a young man assigned to a bomber. The pilot on his first aircraft refused to have him aboard. He did manage to last out most of the war until one of his comrades, while cleaning his gun and not realizing a bullet remained inside, shattered Bill’s tibia. No more airsickness.

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