Remembers World War II
IN 1940, WHEN I WAS 3 MY PARENTS MOVED FROM GLENDALE TO BURBANK. THEY BOUGHT A SMALL 2 BEDROOM HOUSE ON THE CORNER OF EDISON BLVD. AND EVERGREEN ST. THEY PAID APPROX $3,000 FOR IT BRAND NEW. MY DAD STARTED WORKING AT LOCKHEED AS AN ENGINEER. MY BROTHER WAS BORN IN 1942 AND OF COURSE WE WERE AT WAR. I HAVE SEVERAL MEMORIES OF THAT TIME AND I IMAGINE YOU DO TOO.
I WALKED TO BRET HARTE TO GO TO SCHOOL FROM KINDERGARTEN UNTIL 5TH GRADE. THEN MINGAY WAS BUILT AND I WENT THERE FOR 6TH GRADE.
BONNIE HORTON SHAW LIVED ON EVERGREEN ST.,ABOUT 6 HOUSES UP FROM ME. I KNEW HER FROM KINDERGARTEN ON. WE STILL CORRESPOND. WE HAD MRS. JONES FOR OUR KINDERGARTEN TEACHER. WE WOULD WALK BY FIELDS OF VEGETABLES BEING GROWN BY JAPANESE. WE HAD JAPANESE KIDS IN OUR CLASS. THERE WAS ONE JAPANESE BOY WHO WAS VERY NERVOUS. HE WOULD PICK HIS SKIN UNTIL HE HAD OPEN SORES. THEN HE WOULD PICK THE SCABS OFF. WELL, YOU KNOW THAT AT OUR AGES WE WERE NOT KIND TO THIS POOR LITTLE KID. WE CALLED HIM NAMES AND RAN AND HID FROM HIM. HE WAS PROBABLY NERVOUS BECAUSE WE WERE SO MEAN TO HIM. I OCCASIONALLY THINK OF HIM AND WONDER WHERE HE IS.
ONE DAY ALL THE JAPANESE KIDS STOPPED COMING TO SCHOOL AND THE FIELDS WERE NO LONGER KEPT BY JAPANESE FARMERS. ALL THE LOCAL JAPANESE WERE PLACED IN A "RELOCATION CAMP" THAT WAS ABOUT 3 MILES FROM MY HOUSE. i THINK IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN ON HOLLYWOOD WAY BUT IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I HAVE BEEN TO BURBANK THAT I DON'T REMEMBER HOW THE STREETS GO. ANYWAY, THIS "RELOCATION CAMP" WAS A TERRIFYING PLACE FOR ME. PEOPLE WERE LIVING IN SQUALID CONDITIONS. THEY WOULD OFTEN HANG ON THE FENCE AND WATCH US WITH SOULFUL EYES WHEN WE DROVE BY. THE FENCE WAS COVERED WITH BARBED WIRE THAT MADE THE PLACE LOOK LIKE A PRISON. WHAT THEY LIVED IN, AS I REMEMBER , WERE SMALL CARDBOARD SHACKS COVERED WITH TIN ROOFS WHICH MUST HAVE BEEN VERY HOT IN THE SUMMER.
AFTER MY MOTHER HAD MY BROTHER, SHE ALSO WENT TO WORK AT LOCKHEED AND BECAME "ROSIE THE RIVETER" ALTHOUGH HER NAME WAS CHARLOTTE. MOM WORKED NIGHTS AND MY DAD WORKED DAYS. OF COURSE EVERY FAMILY HAD ONLY ONE CAR. MY PARENTS WOULD DRIVE EACH OTHER TO WORK IN OUR 1937 PLYMOUTH. THEY HAD TO WAKE MY BROTHER AND ME AND PUT US IN THE CAR FOR THIS RIDE BECAUSE WE WERE TOO YOUNG TO BE LEFT ALONE. WHEN WE GOT CLOSE TO LOCKHEED WE WOULD DRIVE UNDER EARTH COLORED NETS THAT HAD BEEN PLACED OVER THE STREETS AND COVERED WITH TUMBLE WEEDS. THERE WERE LOTS OF TUMBLE WEEDS IN BURBANK IN THOSE DAYS. I BELIEVE MY PARENTS HAD TO TURN OFF THE CAR LIGHTS WHEN THEY DROVE UNDER THE NETS. IT WAS EERIE BUT EXCITING.
I REMEMBER THE BLACK OUTS. MY MOTHER TRIED TO MAKE THEM FUN FOR US. WE WOULD GET OUT CANDLES AND SIT IN THE DARK WITH THE CURTAINS CLOSED. I REMEMBER THAT WE HAD A BLOCK PATROLMAN WHO WORE A HELMET AND CARRIED A FLASHLIGHT. HE WALKED THE STREETS TO SEE IF ANY LIGHT CAME FROM OUR HOUSES. ONE NIGHT HE STOPPED AT OUR HOUSE AND HE SAID THAT HE COULD SEE THE CANDLE LIGHT THROUGH A SPACE IN THE CURTAIN. WE PULLED THE CURTAIN SHUT. I REMEMBER THAT DURING THESE BLACK OUTS THE SEARCH LIGHTS WOULD BE FILLING THE SKY. SIRENS WOULD BE BLARING.
WE HAD RATION STAMPS OF DIFFERENT COLORS WHICH WE USED TO BUY THINGS. I REMEMBER I NEEDED A NEW PAIR OF SHOES BUT WE DIDN'T HAVE A STAMP FOR LEATHER SO WE BOUGHT CANVAS SHOES. SUGAR, MEAT, BUTTER, AND NYLON STOCKINGS WERE WHAT MY MOM WANTED MOST AND COULDN'T GET. I REMEMBER THAT WE HAD MARGARINE THAT WAS WHITE WHICH CAME IN A PLASTIC BAG. THERE WAS A SMALL BUTTON OF YELLOW FOOD COLORING INSIDE THE BAG THAT YOU BROKE. THEN YOU WOULD MASSAGE THE BAG UNTIL THE MARGARINE WAS YELLOW INSTEAD OF WHITE.
PEOPLE HAD STICKERS ON THE WINDSHIELDS OF THEIR CARS. THE STICKERS WERE BLACK SQUARES WITH A WHITE LETTER IN THE MIDDLE: A, B, C ETC. THIS WAS A SIGN OF HOW QUALIFIED ONE WAS FOR BUYING GASOLINE. MY FATHER HAD AN 'A' BECAUSE HE WORKED AT LOCKHEED AND WAS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE WAR EFFORT. I COULD TELL HE WAS ALWAYS VERY PROUD OF THAT 'A'.
MY PARENTS HAD A VICTORY GARDEN. I REMEMBER THEM HARVESTING MOSTLY GREEN BEANS AND LEMONS. I KNOW THERE WERE OTHER CROPS BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THEM.
I REMEMBER THAT THERE WERE STARS ABOUT 10" IN SIZE IN MANY OF THE WINDOWS IN BURBANK. THEY WERE DIFFERENT COLORS. ONE COLOR WAS FOR A FAMILY THAT HAD A SON OR HUSBAND OVERSEAS IN THE WAR AND THE BLACK STARS WHERE FOR THOSE WHO LOST A SON OR HUSBAND. I REMEMBER LOTS OF BLACK STARS. SOME HOUSES HAD MORE THAN ONE STAR.
THERE WERE A COUPLE OF PLANE CRASHES NEARBY. ONE WAS IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD NEAR THE BURBANK BORDER. I BELIEVE THE PILOT WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS MISSIONS. I REMEMBER THAT MY MOTHER WAS VERY SAD WHEN HE DIED. ALSO, A FUEL TANK FELL FROM A PLANE INTO A CLOSET WINDOW ON PASS AVE. WHICH WAS THE NEXT STREET OVER FROM OURS. LUCKILY NO ONE WAS HURT AND THE HOUSE DID NOT CATCH FIRE. I REMEMBER ALL THE NEIGHBORS STANDING AROUND MARVELING AT THIS THING THAT WAS HANGING OUT THE WINDOW.
I REMEMBER THE DAY ROOSEVELT DIED. MY MOTHER AND FATHER BOTH CRIED. MY BROTHER AND I WERE SITTING ON THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF OUR BIG FLOOR STANDING RADIO LISTENING TO THE NEWS THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS DEAD.
ON V-E DAY THE CARS ON THE ROAD WERE HONKING THEIR HORNS AND PEOPLE CAME RUNNING OUT OF THEIR HOUSES JUMPING WITH JOY. THEY HUGGED EACH OTHER AND LAUGHED AND SHOWED MUCH HAPPINESS. I REMEMBER ASKING MY MOTHER WHAT WAS GOING ON AND SHE SAID THE WAR IS OVER IN EUROPE.
I DON'T REMEMBER V-J DAY.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE YEAR WAS OR IF IT WAS DURING OR AFTER THE WAR BUT I REMEMBER SEEING WHAT I THINK WAS THE BLACK WIDOW OR P-38 AIRPLANES FLY OVER FOR THE FIRST TIME. THEY WERE BLACK WITH TWO FUSELAGES. I ALSO REMEMBER WHEN THE P-80 FIRST FLEW. I THINK IT MAY HAVE BEEN THE FIRSTJET AND PEOPLE WERE SHOCKED AT ITS SPEED. AGAIN EVERYONE CAME OUT TO THE STREET TO LOOK UP. THE FLYING WING FLEW OVER ONE DAY BUT I DON'T REMEMBER SEEING IT MORE THAN ONCE.
I HAD AN UNCLE WHO WENT TO THE NAVAL ACADEMY IN ANNAPOLIS. HE WAS ON A DESTROYER (THE MEREDITH) IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC THAT WAS TORPEDOED AND SUNK. HE AND HIS FELLOW SHIPMATES WHERE IN LIFE RAFTS FOR SEVERAL WEEKS AND MANY DIED. MY UNCLE WAS ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES. HE LIVED TO TELL ABOUT SHARKS CIRCLING THE RAFTS WAITING FOR THE NEXT GUY TO DIE.
I HOPE THAT SOME OF THIS WILL SOUND FAMILIAR TO YOU BECAUSE I KNOW THAT A LOT OF YOU WERE THERE. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR MEMORIES.
IN MANY WAYS I FEEL LUCKY TO HAVE LIVED DURING THAT TIME BECAUSE WHEN I READ ABOUT IT OR HEAR ABOUT I CAN IDENTIFY WITH IT. IT WAS TRULY HISTORY TO BE REMEMBERED.
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