This story was sent to me by a dear friend and relative. She is the same age my parents would be and it is worth sharing.

"Great reminders of that era. I was living with the Snyder's, teaching at the little school about a mile from their farm. Gene had enlisted in the Navy after trying college and finding that his favorite subject was football. His boot camp was completed at San Diego and he was assigned to the Saratoga aircraft carrier out of Pearl Harbor. Lucky for him and the crew, they were assigned to take some Marines to Guadalcanal just days before the attack at Pearl Harbor. Paul was secretary of the rural school board where I had applied to teach. I was 19 and couldn't afford to continue college so went out on a two year temp. certificate...$75.00 a month for nine months. Paid Helen $35. of that for room and board each month. She rented Gene's room to me. When Gene had his first leave he was not exactly thrilled that I had taken up residence in his room because he had sleep in the a spare room, not as comfortable. There were many community events put together to support the war effort and they usually happened at the school where I taught. Feelings were indeed high in support of the war and especially the local boys who were off fighting for us. Yes, the posters were very popular and effective. Don't think people today would stand for that kind of visuals, but we were in a different culture, lifestyle and had limited communication.Anyway, thanks for your reminder."

I received an e-mail showing some war posters from the WWII era. I am a post war baby (1947)so I remember hearing about victory gardens, ration stamps, blackout curtains, military mail being censored. My mother worked in a defense factory and every relative who could not go to war because of health, age or gender did something to help the war effort. I forwarded the e-mail and I received a number of stories back from friends who had remembrances from that time and started to think about how today's children won't ever know about the personal stories of the people at that time. I am so grateful that I am old enough to have that perspective and have decided to save these stories for my grandchildren. I realize we live in a different culture now and our enemies are from a different culture. I also realize that war is very different now, but everyone can learn something from the people who stood strong and I am trying to collect as many personal, brief stories as I can get. The Greatest Generation was a tremendous book, but it told stories of people who are known or who have had some notoriety ie: congressional medal of honour winners. I am looking for personal recollections from average people holding together during a difficult and challenging time. Something more personal than the history books tell. I am going to post some of the stories I have received and hope some of you will share yours. Most gratefully, Agathamae