Hitler was ravaging Europe and the war clouds were looming. It has always intrigued me to imagine what it would have been like to be a young man from Plymouth in the late 1930's and early 1940's.
By the way, your Mom was born also in 1940. "Another war baby".
First in the family cast were my Grandpa Chalk and Grandma Myrna, owners of the City Club, who hosted the young military men home on furlough. According to my Uncle Bob, Chalk talked very little about his sons entering the military service. If they were drafted, they had to go. If they enlisted, it was their decision. I'm sure Chalk had the same fear every father would have.
Then there was my Dad. He graduated from high school in 1938 at the age of 18 and his dreams revolved around playing professional baseball. He knew that there was the potential of being drafted but he pursued the baseball career anyway. In 1940, he married my Mom and shortly there after I was born.
Bucky's younger brother Bob was 3 years behind. He graduated from high school in June of 1941. The war against the Germans was beginning to escalate. Bob started attending Lakeland College (north of Sheboygan) in the fall of '41. I don't know if my Dad was going to Lakeland at the same time or not. In those days Lakeland was called the Mission House. Bob's chances of being drafted had to be very high. His sweetheart at that time was Helene Hoffman (she is still his sweetheart).
Mom's Dad (Grandpa George) was 33 years old in 1940. He had two children and was working for Reinhold Hardware in Plymouth. George had volunteered to do Red Cross service in town. During the air raid practice sessions, he had an area of town that he was supposed to walk through looking for casualties if they occurred after a bombing. He assisted in notifying people that failed to turn out lights or pull shades. George never had to enter the service. Besides being "older" at 33, he was married with young children. Later, almost every able bodied man under 40 was elgible for the draft but Reinhold Hardware was declared a "critical supplier" to the war effort and George (because of his needed critical skills) was exempt from the draft.
My Mother (Grandma Alice) was a young bride with one child. I never sensed her fear of Bucky having to go to war but I'm sure it was there.
It was here that things got interesting. On the other side of the world from Germans, the Japanese decided that they wanted to conquer their piece of the world. On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Suddenly, there were two war fronts to contend with. It was here that the United States officially declared war on Japan. The threat to the United States was never greater.
The day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor was like the aircraft hitting the Twin Towers in New York on 9/11. Everybody remembers where they were. My Uncle Bob said he was in his car in front of Helene's home. He was dropping her off after a date. My Dad never talked about where he was upon hearing about the bombing. Remember there were no TV's. Everything was received by radio with significant time delays.
Now what? You'll have to wait until next time.
Love,
Dad
Just so you know Dominic and I read these entries together. Just a side note according to Dominic, Pearl Harbor happened before the US went to war with Germany. Although I am sure Germany was already on the US Radar.