Page 178 - Anthology

One incident I still remember was an occasion when my brother and one of his friends his age, that was
helping, kept throwing a cup of water on me when we stopped at the ice water barrel for a drink. One day
my dad and I arrived first, and I filled a gallon bucket full of water and climbed on top of the wagon and
when my brother and his friend arrived, I emptied the gallon of water on both of their heads. My dad
watched and laughed with me, but later said that probably it wouldn’t be a good idea to keep draining the
water barrel because the working men really did need the water to drink.

We were so troubled at the beginning of the war because our country was unprepared, but we soon
discovered that every citizen in the U.S. was dedicated to winning the war. I firmly believed that we (our
country) were not losers, and I continue with this belief seventy years later.

My dad was extraordinary in so many ways. He was a positive person and did not bring home troubles
from farming. When I was very young, we had a drought and crops suffered, but I never heard. Two
barns burned, and the brothers built them back, but we didn’t discuss the negative effect this caused. He
was an interesting teacher about nature and our surroundings, and my children and grandchildren
benefited from his wisdom and love as well. We actually enjoyed being with him on the farm.

I enjoyed working with my dad. To satisfy my grandmother (my dad’s mom); I had to stay within sight of
my dad. He was an interesting person to be with. He told us about the natural wonders of the land; a
rain cloud could be in sight and we would learn about cloud coverage, just one example of how he could
keep our minds so occupied our work wasn’t unpleasant.

My education about the war came from my classroom at school. My family always listened to the evening
news on the radio, but we didn’t discuss what was broadcast.

Eventually German prisoners of war, held at Frankfort, Kentucky, were allowed to work on local farms.
They were driven from the prison each morning at a designated time and returned the same way. They
were glad to be in the fresh air and were excellent workers. Dad would send me to the store (small family
owned) each day for a large piece of bologna and a loaf of bread. The prisoners considered this a relief
from their C rations. The German prisoners did not want to be returned to their country; most of them did
not agree with Hitler.

From age twelve through sixteen, my teen years were geared to sharing responsibility for whatever
contribution I could make, mostly working on our farm, going with my Aunt Sallie to roll bandages for the
Red Cross, making posters for War Bond Drives and such.

I learned not to expect new kitchen appliances, so we took good care of what we had. Our car was not
new, but there were no replacements available. Anything that required metal to manufacture was no
longer in production. Manufacturing companies produced only war supplies and every citizen in our
country supported this choice.