Portland Sun
PORTLAND WEATHER

Memories of a World War II veteran




Thomas Woodrow Denton

Thomas Woodrow Denton

Thomas Woodrow Denton penned these words several years ago.  He always had a love of history and enjoyed sharing his memories.  Sadly, he died in 1998. Today there are very few left who remember or can relate to these memories.

Memorial Day is now over.  All magazines, newspapers and TV showed coverage of all the heroic events in Normandy and gave tribute necessary to our fallen heroes.

Taps was played frequently.  Most authorities credit Union General Daniel Butterfield, after a hard-fought battle in 1862, with the melody of Taps.  He wanted something more comforting than what had been used previously to signal “lights out” at the end of the day. The lyrics of Taps were written by Richard Hard, an 1878 graduate of Widener University of Chester, Pa. The first verse goes “Day is done, gone the sun, from the lake, from the hills, from the sky.  All is well. Safely rest. God is nigh.”

How many of us have visited the Veterans Hospital to see those physically impaired, those who were shell shocked and those with damaged minds?  Have they been forgotten?

During World War II everyone tried to do their part to help. The war caused shortages of all sorts of things: rubber, metal, clothing, etc. But it was the shortages of various types of food that affected just about everyone on a daily basis. Every American was issued a series of ration books during the war that contained removable stamps good for certain rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil and canned goods. A person could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the right ration stamp.SUBMITTED

During World War II everyone tried to do their part to help. The war caused shortages of all sorts of things: rubber, metal, clothing, etc. But it was the shortages of various types of food that affected just about everyone on a daily basis. Every American was issued a series of ration books during the war that contained removable stamps good for certain rationed items, like sugar, meat, cooking oil and canned goods. A person could not buy a rationed item without also giving the grocer the right ration stamp.SUBMITTED

World War II was something else!  It was hard for us country boys to comprehend what was really happening. My first memory was the music of the Marine Band heard everywhere: “Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, and we’ll stay free.” “Let’s remember Pearl Harbor as we go to meet the foe, let’s remember Pearl Harbor as we did the Alamo.”

The war brought many changes to our lives.  One of the most obvious was that all young men were gone.  There was even a song about that:  “They’re either too young or too old; they’re either too bold or ‘grass green.’ What’s good is in the army, what’s left will never harm me.”

It’s funny how memories come rushing back.  I remember the blackouts and the air raid sirens and watching lights go out all over the neighborhood.  It was fun but it was scary.  I remember the Victory gardens; the radio blaring forth with “Lucky Strikes” green has gone to war. 

We also had shoe rationing (two pair a year) and gasoline rationing. Joy riding was out. Folks were walking and riding bicycles.  Everybody saved scrap iron, cans, newspapers and tinfoil.  Chewing gum was gone.  Pennies lost their bright copper look.  Margarine was no longer yellow—a little packet of color was given to squish up and make it turn yellow.  You couldn’t buy Coca-Cola or a Hershey bar.  Sugar was rationed.

New words came into our vocabulary.  Words like draft-dodger, jeep, tiger tank, commando, 4-F, Rosie the Riveter, re-cap, Bataan, Corrigador, Mussolini, incendiary bomb, Gold Star Mother, buck private, PFC, Corporal, Sarg, Tojo, Patton, B-24, P38, Messerschmidt, and Hitler.

The Andrews Sisters were singing about the Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.  President Roosevelt said there was nothing to be afraid of and a movietone newsreel showed MacArthur’s “I Shall Return.”  More new words came along like Iwo Jima and Saipan.

In the spring of 1945 the Germans had given up—Hitler was dead, but the war in the Pacific dragged on.  Here’s where Oak Ridge came in.  This was also a new word to most people.  It gave us also “atomic bomb,” “Nagasaki” and “Hiroshima.”

Aug. 6, 1945 and Aug. 9, 1945 the atomic bombs were used for the first time.  It was over—they called it V-J Day.

Streets were full of people everywhere. They hugged—they kissed.  Bands played and many fireworks went off.  They danced and drank whiskey straight from the bottle.  But many mothers and fathers got down on their knees thanking God that their boys were coming home—but we also had those “Gold Star” boys.  God Bless Them!

Johnnie Freedle is a member of the Highland Rim Historical Society.

Leave a Reply