Prairie Girls

 

Alexis

This is Alexis again. When I am not in school or playing with my friends, I like to play the piano. My neighbor, Mrs. Williams, is my piano teacher. Mom and Dad don’t have to pay for my lessons because I play with my teacher’s little girl, Nancy, in the kitchen while she gives piano lessons in the living room to other students. Mr. Williams is in Germany fighting the Nazis. Sometimes Mrs. Williams reads parts of his letters to me. He got to see Bob Hope in an USO show. I wish this war would end.

 

 The Greatest Generation Was Silent

                                                      by Collette

Sadly, my father-in-law was like most World War II veterans; he didn’t talk about the war. None of his children heard much about where he was stationed or how he served. Unfortunately, his story is lost with only bits and pieces remaining. His family knew he served in the army, received basic training in Texas, and was stationed in the Pacific. He returned from the war with a Japanese rifle that was later stolen from my husband.

The family knew when he got to the Philippines he was asked if he could type. He could, so he was placed in the office of the commanding general, Douglas MacArthur. My father-in-law’s only comment was he knew what was going to happen before anyone else because he worked in MacArthur’s office. We know because of the time frame of when he entered the war, he was in the Philippines after MacArthur “had returned” to the island after the evacuation of the general and his staff.

Many questions remain unanswered about his service in the Pacific. With hundreds of WWII veterans dying each day, it is a shame so little is known about so many. Oral history plays such an important role in recording events soldiers faced and endured. It behooves all of us to take the time to listen to them before it is too late.