We Learned Patriotism

As mentioned in my previous blog “I felt the effects of war more in school than at home.” Now let me explain. Routine schedules and even some curriculum changed so war-supporting projects and patriotism could be introduced. Every Friday was now designated as “War Bond” day. Each child was given a stamp book which when filled with ten cent stamps equaling $18.00 was traded in for a War Bond which could be cashed in for $25.00 if held to maturity (I think ten years). Every Friday we were encouraged to bring dimes to purchase stamps for our books. Mother always made sure each of us had at least one dime, sometimes more if the budget allowed. But I never completed a single stamp book, so I never even saw what a bond looked like.

All of us children were encouraged to be the responsible ones in our families to save tin cans for the “scrap drive”. Scrap metal of all kinds was recycled because so much was needed for weapons and machinery of war. We were taught how to wash out the can, remove the label, place the round end pieces inside the can and then stomp them flat. We would bring these cans to school where they were stacked in the front enclosed entrance of the school. Periodically they would be picked up by a processing company to be melted down for re-use. I remember those cans being stacked to the ceiling before being picked up.

At one time we were also asked to collect kapok (a cotton-like substance surrounding the seeds of some trees and plants) from the milkweeds that grew abundantly in the fields around where we lived. We were told that it could be used to fill life jackets for our service men. I since have wondered if that was really accurate since it was so tedious to collect even small amounts of the fiber. Surely science could have, and probably did, come up with a synthetic that could be mass- produced for this purpose. I think now that asking us to collect this substance was just to make us feel that we were doing something to help our country.

There were more patriotic assemblies held and patriotic songs became part of all musical programs presented by the school. Red, white and blue became the favored colors to decorate rooms and each room had a flag to which the Pledge of Allegiance was recited each morning. And “Uncle Sam”, became a familiar figure to all of us. Some people today may call this “brain washing”, but I would call it giving us love for country, and a needed realization of the cost of freedom which we took, and still take, for granted. When that freedom became seriously challenged a country came together to do whatever it took to preserve it. I never remember having any negative or depressing feelings about the war, only feelings of love of country wanting to help the soldiers. In fact, a group of girls would get together one day a week to make “scrapbooks” for them. We would bring magazines, newspapers, joke books, crossword puzzle books, etc., cut out the cartoon-type jokes, articles of interest from the local papers, jokes, and puzzles, and paste them in scrapbooks provided by some cooperative parents. I wasn’t able to go to too many of these work sessions because of other responsibilities that I had at home. I’m not too sure that my mother thought that this was a worthwhile project, and as I look back now, I never was aware of how or to whom these books were sent. But at least we believed that we were doing something special to show our support for the soldiers.

A common sight now appeared in the windows of many, many homes. It was a small banner with one or more stars that represented the number of men or women serving their country in military service. I remember sometimes seeing as many as four or five stars on banners. A gold star meant that someone had died in that home defending their country. As we have just celebrated Memorial Day, my thoughts have turned to the millions, of men and women who have died while serving their country in wars throughout the world. War is never good, but it will continue to exist until the Savior, Himself, will once again bring peace to the earth at His Second Coming. But I honor the brave men and women who sacrificed so much to maintain our freedoms and to help bring democracy to the oppressed people of the world. I feel blessed that no one in my immediate family has been lost in battle, and only one uncle, LeGrande, served during World War II. So I can only imagine the pain of those families who have lost loved ones. My heart goes out to them, and I hope they feel as I do that those who have made the ultimate sacrifice have a special place in Heaven.