You students remember September 11th.  I was in fourth grade on Pearl Harbor Day.  We didn't have TV then.  I heard on the radio about the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. It was Sunday, December 7, 1941.  Many of our Navy ships had been destroyed or damaged.  It meant that our country was at war.

I had read in the newspaper about the Germans bombing London, England and many buildings on fire.  I knew it wasn't logical that my town would be bombed because I lived in the middle of the U.S. a long way from the ocean.  I remember that day standing in my backyard and looking up into the sky and thinking about the people who were being bombed and wondering if it would happen to me.

Every man, woman and child was patriotic.  We flew our American flag.  Did you count the stars on my flag?  This old flag has only 48 stars.  It dates back to before Alaska and Hawaii became states. 

My dad was too old to be in the service.  He went to work at a Defense Plant that made air-brakes for the Army trucks and jeeps.  My mother worked in an office.

Even though we lived far from the ocean, we had practice blackouts.  Curtains were closed tightly so no light shone outside.  It was like practicing a fire drill so you will know what to do if you have an emergency.

One of the ways we helped our country was buying War Bonds.  Every Friday at school was "savings stamp day."   A dime would buy a 10 cent stamp we put into a savings book.  When the book was full with $18.75 worth of stamps we traded it in for a War Bond.  After another 10 years, the bond would be worth $25.00.  I still have my bonds from 1942, 1943, and 1944.  They are worth more now than they were 60 years ago.  They have gained interest.

I was in a Girl Scout troop.  With the help of the Boy Scouts, we collected in our neighborhood newspaper, tin cans, the foil on chewing gum wrappers and scrap iron.  In the Fall we walked through the fields picking the seedpods of the Milkweed plant. The "feathery" part of the seed was to be used to fill life jackets. 

Much food was needed for the people in service, so the citizens at home were glad to go without some things and have  other foods "rationed."  Each family member had a ration book of stamps.  We had meat once in a while.  Sugar was rationed because it came from Hawaii and the ships were needed for the war.  I had to choose whether I wanted sugar on my cereal or save that sugar so my mother could make a birthday cake for me.  During the war we didn't have pop because it is made from sugar and it was sent to the men and women in service.  Coffee and butter were rationed . Tires and gasoline for the car was also.  Shoes were rationed.  We took good care of our shoes as we might get only one or two pair a year.  If your big brother or sister outgrew their shoes then you often got their old shoes. 

Most people had "Victory Gardens."  We planted many vegetables in our yard. If you lived in a city they often had a vacant field plowed and many people would plant little gardens and harvest their own food.  We canned lots of vegetables and fruit in glass jars.  Many homes had basements. In the Winter we kept "root vegetables" like potatoes and carrots in boxes of straw or sawdust in the cool basement. We were never hungry.  Our food was nourishing but not fancy.  I remember eating lots of meals of vegetable soup with rice or noodles in it and bread.

I lived in the country and my grandpa had a cow named "Peggy".  She gave us milk and my Grandma made butter and cottage cheese.  We also had about 30 chickens for eggs and a chicken dinner once in a while.

  

Families who had men and women in the service of our country hung a "flag" in their window.  It was made of cloth.  It looked like a red picture frame with white in the middle.  Blue stars showed how many family members were serving our country. When a family member died in the war their star was gold.

We had a sign  ...V__  which stood for  "Victory."  We greeted one another by holding up two fingers in the "V for Victory sign." 

     

If you go to Hawaii be sure to see Pearl Harbor.  You will take a small boat out to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial.  The ship still lies beneath the water of the harbor.  The names of the servicemen who died on the ship that day are listed on the memorial.  They died fighting for our country and the freedoms we have today.