Article #314 Not Forgotten

Benjamin Franklin said: If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten; either write things worthy of reading, or do things worthy of writing. How many unforgettable moments do you wish you had recorded in some way. I often think of questions I’d like to ask my mom or grandmother, but they are both gone from this world. Now is the time to record moments with your loved ones or your own life that you’d like to share or leave for your family.

           Barbara Ainge of St. George wrote in her life history about her memories of World War II. Life was different during the War. Everyone pitched in to help. As men went off to fight, women filled in their jobs at the factories, making airplanes, tanks, jeeps, any type of vehicle to contribute to the war effort. Food was rationed so that commodities could be sent to feed the boys overseas. Our family had food stamps and coins issued by the government to use to buy food.
Margarine was invented when butter went to our soldiers at war. I can remember my mom stirring color into the white margarine when it was brought home from the market. Meat was especially limited. Dad used to come home occasionally with a couple of pounds of ground meat which we greatly enjoyed. It wasn’t until years later that’s our mother told my sister and me that she suspected this meat was really horsemeat, but she never asked my Dad.

                   Families who had soldiers, sailors or marines fighting during the war displayed little flags in their front windows. These flags had stars on them: one for each member of the family who was in the armed forces. If a star was a gold color it meant that their servicemen or woman had been killed. The United States and other countries lost millions of their men in that war as they tried to free Europe and Asia from the tyranny of Germany, Italy and Japan. It was four years before World War II was finally won: VE Day (Victory in Europe) came on May 8, 1945 and VJ Day (Victory over Japan) on August 14, 1945. When victory was announced, my Dad piled our family into the car to go down to Newark New Jersey where there was a huge public patriotic celebration for the peace that was finally won.

What important occasions do you need to write about? NEXT TIME: Family Pride.