Prairie Girls

Alexis

 

It’s Alexis again. I heard Daddy and Momma talking about her cousin. His airplane was shot down. He parachuted out of the plane, but was captured by Japanese soldiers.

Daddy says there is an aircraft factory in Wichita that builds an airplane called the Superfortress. Our neighbors have a boy who is a flight engineer on a Superfortress. Daddy says that plane can fly farther than any other plane. He said those planes will help America win the war. I sure hope so.

 

Cat with Nine Lives

                                                 by Collette

I had the pleasure of having one of my dad’s friends come to speak to my advanced placement American History classes on his WWII experiences. His name was John, and he took part in Operation Overlord at Normandy Beach. John got separated from his unit on the beach and wasn’t able to rejoin the group until the end of the war.

John spent his time in the outdoors most of his life as a young boy. He loved camping, fishing, and cooking whatever he caught. Little did he know those skills would come in handy during the war. John was captured, escaped and was captured again by the Germans. The first time during his capture, the soldiers had shot a deer, but didn’t know how to dress or cook it. John used his skills and made himself useful to the enemy. The Germans were not very happy with him when he escaped and was recaptured, but one of the guards befriended him and protected him from execution.

My dad’s friend told story after story about the close calls he had with the Germans. One incident involved the French Underground. To help him avoid the enemy, they had him pretend to be a deaf mute to cover up the fact John couldn’t speak French. During his time working with the underground, he helped save a village from destruction. After the war John received medals and many honors from the French government for saving the little town. Just before he died a few years ago, members of the French government met him in St. Louis to give him yet another award.

John had wanted me to help him write a book for his grandchildren about his exploits in the army. We were going to do that after I retired. Unfortunately, he died before we could write it. I wasn’t the only one who recognized how exciting his war experiences were. On the troop ship back to the States after the war, the wartime writer Ernie Pyle looked him up. He wanted to write a book about John.

They exchanged telephone numbers and addresses, and they agreed to meet after Pyle got back from the Pacific where he was being sent to cover the war. The wartime correspondent was killed shortly after that in the War in the Pacific. We both were too late to record John’s story.