Citizen Journal: PBS ‘War’ series brings back memories
Like many others, we are watching Ken Burns’ new series, “The War,” on PBS with great interest. My husband finds it fascinating since he was a B-17 pilot in World War II. And the home front segments remind me of what it was like growing up in a war town.
The town was Seneca, Ill., and my father, a chemical engineer, had been transferred there shortly after Pearl Harbor to work at the DuPont explosives plant. I was in fourth grade.
When we got there in winter of 1942, Seneca was a sleepy, small town with one long main street. Things soon began to change.
A huge new shipyard was being built on the banks of the Illinois River and shipyard workers and Navy personnel began pouring in from all over the country. They came to help build LSTs, flat-bottomed ships designed to carry troops and cargo right up to enemy beaches.
Construction workers erected blocks of wooden barrack-type apartments and hundreds of identical gray trailers began arriving on railroad flat cars. Many people lived in temporary tent cities before the housing was completed.
The downtown area seemed to explode with activity, day and night. The streets were always crowded, local taverns were doing a lively business and slot machines sprouted up everywhere.
My father took the occasion to warn my 7-year-old brother and me about the evils of gambling. But one day when I was sent to the drug store to get something for my mother, I impulsively plunked a nickel into a slot machine to see what would happen. Two nickels came back! Needless to say, I didn’t mention this at home.
My parents had been lucky to find a house to rent, but by the end of the year our landlord wanted us out so he could turn it into a rooming house for shipyard workers. He filled it with curtained cubicles where men took turns sleeping on cots between shifts.
We ended up living in four different houses before the war was over. We had a victory garden, and raised rabbits at one house and a brood of chickens at another in order to help the war effort by providing some of our own food.
Our whole family was involved in the war effort in various ways. Dad worked extra long hours at the plant, while Mother kept busy getting us moved and figuring out the best way to stretch rationing coupons for things like groceries and even shoes. She used her spare time to knit sweaters for the Red Cross – khaki for soldiers and blue for sailors.
My brother and I helped with scrap drives. Nobody was too old or too young to get involved in helping our soldiers win the war. We prayed for them every night – especially our three cousins Bobby (a Marine who fought at Guadalcanal), Jim (serving in Italy in the Air Force) and Ed (radio operator on a Navy ship in the Pacific). They all came home.
The PBS “War” series is well worth watching. Whether we are old enough to remember or much too young, it is an inspirational reminder of how Americans can sacrifice and work together when the chips are down.