Pearl Harbor Day…..America was officially in World War II. December 7, 1941. What a somber day that was. We lived in Pampa at the time and I was five years old. From that day forward America pulled together to fight on two fronts, the Germans in Europe and the Japanese in the Pacific. I had two uncles in the War, Uncle Jack, (age 16) who went to Europe and Uncle Tom B., (age 19) who went to India and China. My dad was in his 40’s and was a driller for Magnolia Oil Company. Uncle Jack was infantry and Uncle Tom B was a Medic.
American saved and rationed almost everything from rubber bands to sugar, to aluminum foil. We bought US Savings bonds to help finance the war. Women went to work in the factories and every place they could. Even building ships.
We only got news in movie form at the theaters once a week. Other than that, America got the news from the newspapers and some radio. Cars were rationed and at the time we had a ‘39 Ford 2 door sedan, which we kept for 10 years. President Roosevelt encouraged everyone to grow “victory gardens” to help with the shortage of food. I remember Mother having books of stamps which she had to take to the grocery store to use when she bought sugar, flour, and other items. You were allowed only so much per month. Oh…and also gas had to be bought with stamps.
Pampa had a military base out East of town where they taught pilots how to fly that were called “trainers.”
The only way to communicate with your family who were overseas was with letters, mailed “airmail” …that was like onion skin paper, very light, so it wouldn’t cost much to mail. When we got letters from Uncle Jack or Uncle Tom B, there would be large sections cut out, either words or paragraphs, because of redaction. Essentially, about all you would know is that they were alive and okay. Most of the time we didn’t know where they were located. It was a BIG day when our guys got back home.
During that time, Roosevelt died in 1945 and Harry Truman, his vice president took over. Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, who was the commanding officer of the European campaign, didn’t get along…and as it turned out, Eisenhower became the next president after Truman. In 1953, our world really began to change for the better…but that’s another story!
And that was the beginning of The Greatest Generation.
