Life on the Prairie

ALEXIS

 

 I don’t know how or where to start,

To stop the hurt in our nation’s heart.

 

I’m just a girl and my effort’s small

I want to make the world safe for all.

 

What can I do to stop this War?

To help bring our boys home from afar.

 

My heart, it does so hurt and ache,

For sacrifices made for my sake.

 

Brothers, sons, fathers, husbands, all away,

For their safety, each day I will pray.

 

 

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Prairie Girls

Alexis

This is Alexis, and I am happy today. The war is over! Germany surrendered in June, and now the Japanese have surrendered. America and its allies won. Mom says her cousin will surely be released soon, and we will have a big family gathering when he comes home. I am saddened when I think of the soldiers who died in the war. While my family will celebrate Mom’s cousin’s homecoming, my heart will ache for those families whose boys died. I hope there is never another war.

 

General Eisenhower

                                            by Collette

General Eisenhower was not my dad’s favorite general during WWII. He favored General Omar Bradley and was apprehensive of General George Patton. He often referred to Ike with disdain as a “desk general.” I didn’t really know what that meant except that maybe he was behind the lines and not actually in the fighting. I never asked my dad why he felt that way.

Part of the grant I participated in for my masters allowed me to do research at Eisenhower’s museum and library in Abilene. I was lucky to have one of the oldest members of the museum as my archivist. My research paper one summer was about Eisenhower’s role in WWII. The archivist brought me the letter from FDR naming Ike the Commander of the American forces in Europe. It was sent to him by George Marshall who was Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. I was awe stricken to hold that letter.

The archivist sent me to the Dickerson County Library where I researched the early life of General Eisenhower. I looked at his report cards and was stunned by comments about how great his math skills were. He was truly gifted mathematically. It was with further research, I discovered why he had been chosen to lead the armies in Europe.

It was precisely because of those math skills that he was perfect to develop the invasion plan that would be called Operation Overlord. Only someone with keen skills could oversee thousands of men, millions of pieces of equipment, and hundreds of ships and planes to be brought in secretly to the coast of France. He even participated in estimating where the most horrific losses would occur, and he was more correct than wrong in determining how many men would be lost.

Historians now know that much of the D-Day planning was Ike’s doing. The “desk general” was an expert with numbers, placating generals with difficult personalities, and assuming the huge responsibility of leading the allies to victory during WWII. I do not share my father’s opinion about Ike.

World War II on the Home Front

WW 11 on the Home Front

                                                    by Collette

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans were behind President Roosevelt’s push to enter the War in Europe and especially the War in the Pacific. After the loss of so many ships and planes following the attack, everyone was ready to roll up his sleeves and help America and her allies win the war. Men rushed to join the war, leaving women to fight the fight on the home front.

Agricultural production increased immediately, and most people fed their families by implementing “victory gardens” so more food could be shipped overseas. Rationing of such products as gasoline, oil, sugar, meat, butter, shoes, and rubber was strictly enforced. No one could purchase the rationed items without stamps. Drives were conducted by the Boy Scouts, schools, and other groups to collect everything from scrap iron to even bacon grease used in explosives.

Everyone did his part to step-up war production, but women played a huge role in producing planes, ships, jeeps, tanks, guns, ammunition, and the other necessities of war. “Rosie the Riveter” left her kids with her mother and went to work in unprecedented numbers. Major CEOs of companies received $1.00 a year income in order to pour more money into their production lines. No one could have foreseen how quickly and efficiently America geared up for war. Everyone on the home front helped win the war overseas and effectively ended the Great Depression, as well.

The following sites provide more information.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/us-home-front-during-world-war-ii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_front_during_World_War_II
http://www.ushistory.org/us/51.asp
http://www.archives.gov/boston/exhibits/homefront