Stories tagged "Wartime": 231
Stories
America via England
"When they were in England – my grandfather couldn’t work. I know he was really disturbed that he wasn’t able to work so I think they just lived in the country house of their relatives until they were able to get passage to the United States. "He…
Boarding School
“So, she was received, and she was put in boarding school, I believe the family lived in Kent or Sussex. So she was put in boarding school there, and then when it was no longer safe, and they were getting people out of, kind of what I call 'the…
Home Front
"After my dad’s father died from a measles epidemic, his large family of five siblings and his now single mother Frederica lost her farm during the Depression. During the war, Dad’s sisters went to work. The older sister married…
Siblings' Service
"In WWII, my father’s two brothers, Henry and John B, also served in the Army. My mother’s three brothers served in the Army, Navy, and the Marines. They were Perry Hugh, Elmer, and Emmet Joe who was in Iwo Jima."
Drafted into the Army
"My dad entered the war in President Roosevelt’s first peacetime military draft. The family appealed to the draft board because he was the breadwinner of a family he cared for since age ten, but he shipped out. Dan was gone for…
Joining the WAVES
"I am not sure how Mother was recruited. She may have seen a poster or heard an advertisement on the radio. The WAVES primarily used newspapers, radio, and personal contact to recruit. Mother wanted to be a flight attendant, but…
Wartime Correspondence
"While researching my Mother’s biography, I read her letters from WWII, and the name Frase or Goldman kept appearing in the signatures. I realized it was one man, Goldman Frase. He wrote Christmas Cards to her for ten years…
Serving Abroad
“I felt very bad. I was upset because when you leave the States and you don’t know when you are coming back or not. It gives you a funny feeling.”“Well you see, they are all in civilian clothes. And I’m the only one in uniform, and you assign them…
Protecting War Secrets
“There was some [secret work]. And too when I had the secret work of somebody who would walk in where I was at my desk. I had to roll this under — down in the typewriter. Or if I had it out, I had to turn it over where nobody could see it. I didn’t…
Reporting for Duty
“Well, you live in the barracks. A lot of people. And basic training means you learn all army. You have the drilling — everything. You dress for army dress and what you would be doing in the army. And it’s just a lot of stuff you’re not used to. But…