Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

Censoring Mail in the WAVES

Monday, October 20th, 2008

A friend living in Fairfield, Iowa sent me the material for this entry. It is from the Fairfield Ledger. "The Navy was a wonderful adventure," said Mary Backstrom, a Navy WAVE (Women Accepted for Voluntary Service) yeoman during World War II "That war was different. We were attacked. There was so ...

Two Nurses - One Army, One Navy

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

From Ordinary Heroes by Steve Wagner and Sharon Wells Wagner (previous entry), I am including the stories of two women who served. Margaret Schatz Wolf was born in Mohnton, Berks County, Pennsylvania, where the only industry was a stocking factory. She didn’t want to end up there. Her dream was to ...

Ordinary Heroes

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Last month, I was pleased to have a book signing at the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at the annual World War II weekend. Featured was an authentic recreation of both Allied and German army camps, complete with original World War II vehicles. Over 100 living history enthusiasts ...

Establishing a Recovery Camp in China (coninued)

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

Although Alice was in charge of the base kitchen, she had a committee of capable people to assist. The neighboring base at Kunming was closed because it was too open, and it was too difficult to protect it with its power plant, roads and rail access. The occupants were moved ...

Establishing a Recovery Camp in China

Monday, October 6th, 2008

In 1939, Alice was attending a university in the city of Foochow, a large port of entry across from Taiwan. She had lived in China many years where her father was a technical lubrication engineer. Everything changed in 1939 when the Japanese set up a blockade along the coast of ...

Honor Guard to President Roosevelt

Thursday, October 2nd, 2008

In 1939 May had been visiting in England for six months when war broke out, making it impossible for her to return to the States. So she settled into life in England, doing home nursing and assisting in First Aid courses. She found the spirit of the English people wonderful ...

The Red Phone Between Churchill and Eisenhower

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Jean grew up in West Kirby, west of Liverpool in England. In 1939, she joined the auxiliary of the RAF (Royal Air Force). Her first assignment was to the 8th Air Force base at Sealand, near Chester, England. She was in radar and telephone operations there for about a year ...