Remembers World War II
I don't remember near as much about my life during WW2 as Jan did. I must have been sheltered from much of what was going on. For instance I never saw or knew about any "relocation camp." I never saw or knew about the camouflage nets at Lockheed.
I do remember the "Block Warden" that came to our house to talk about Air Raid procedures. That we were to pull the shades down and turn the lights down and to get under our big dinning room table. I have no memory of an actual "Black Out", I know we had them but can't remember them. I do remember that some kind of cover was affixed to the head lights of our car. I think it was black with a slit in it to allow only a small amount of light to shine forward and down.
I remember the ration stamps and turning "lard" into butter by squeezing the yellow buttom and then kneading the plastic bag.
I have memories of FDR's death and a guy named Harry S. Truman being sworn in as President.
My father was in the Army as a PFC fighting in France. His Purple Heart hangs in my office to this day. He was an artist and a big fan of Picasso and was able to meet him at the end of the war. My dad sent me many "V-Mail's". I don't know what V-mail ment, maybe Victory-Mail. These V-Mail's always contained a cartoon he had drawn for me. Sadly I don not have even one of these. I remember one in partictular. It was a GI in a fox hole with bombs bursting over head.
My mother had 4 step brothers. Each one was in a different branch of the service. Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, Marines. One did not come home, Air force I think. One was the father of Classmate Toni Broderick. The Navy "uncle" came to see me while on leave. I remember he brought me a box with a half dozen Navy ship models.
I remember hearing a lot horns going off and the neighborhood going wild. It was over.
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