A Wartime Childhood

I was seven years old when began World War Two And eleven became by the time it was through. I have vague recollections of things when that small, But events during wartime I clearly recall. Since there was no TV, it was newsreels alone Where real pictures of overseas combat were shown. So enormous were crowds at the movies each night, People stood until ushers could empty seats sight. I was there with the elderly, children, and moms Watching B-25's on their targets drop bombs. we saw troops land in Europe to Germans assault, While marines on far beaches the Japanese fought. And on living room radios nightly we'd hear Latest news of the war, and if good we would cheer. In the Junior Red Cross we made presents to send To the men who had gone to our country defend. We had city-wide blackouts when curtains were drawn, And a victory garden where used to be lawn. The depression had ended with good jobs galore. So the grown-ups bought war bonds to pay for the war. Since most men who were young were no longer around, Heads of shops, farms, and factories new workers found. They hired women, who then did the work of a man. Liberation of housewives in wartime began. Due to needs of armed forces and U-boat attacks, In the stores certain goods disappeared from the racks. Some things rationed were gasoline, sugar, and meat. So we drove our cars less and strange dishes we'd eat. Then recycling was started as part of their plans, So for scrap drives we flattened our empty tin cans. The white, copperless pennies* they minted confused, But for tanks, planes, and warships those metals were used. When Detroit switched to weapons, they stopped making cars;* And the shortage of sugar then shrank Hershey bars. Since for parachutes used, nylon stockings were rare. Troops wrote "Kilroy was here"* and we sang "Over There." Showing husbands or sons had gone off to the war, In some windows of houses, blue stars we'd behold. There they prayed that no officer came to their door To inform them he'd died and to change star to gold. We were glad when the mailman brought letters from Dad; But then after we read them, our mother seemed sad. He was stationed on Guam, which was far,far away And in letters he sent us his hair had turned gray. I can also remember how much mother cried When the radio said Franklin Roosevelt died. And how silent and stunned was the cinema crowd At first sight of the A-bomb explosion and cloud. Then our father returned from the navy and war, One of millions who served and their duty had done. So our lives and our homes were the same as before. A hard war had been fought, and the good guys had won. [FOOTNOTES] * Mints used steel instead of copper, which made them look white. They stopped doing it because they looked too much like dimes. * This is why you never see a 1943 or 1944 antique American automobile. Detroit stopped making cars and converted its assembly lines to make tanks, trucks, cannons, etc. for the war. * It became a morale booster for American troops to write this on a wall of each town they had liberated before moving on. No one knows who started it or who Kilroy was.