| War and History Fiction posted August 29, 2021 |
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A contest entry
My Time in WWII
by damommy
My daughter always teased me about serving in two armed forces. I’d no sooner served my stint in the Navy than the Army drafted me for World War II.
Luckily, I stayed stateside where I taught marksmanship to recruits. While it may seem relatively unimportant to some to serve in this capacity, I always kept it in mind that someone had to teach these young men how to shoot. I was stationed in Abilene, Texas at the time, and that’s where we learned we were about to have an addition to our family. I always called her my “little Texan” because of that.
It was a hard time to have a baby. Everything was in such shortage. Everything! From gasoline to baby bottles. Heaven forbid if we lost a nipple from a bottle because we had to improvise until we could find a replacement.
Gasoline was rationed, of course, and we could only drive 35 miles per hour, no matter what. It seems strange to youngsters today that we had to go that slow, even on the highways. That was before freeways.
There was a special kind of camaraderie during this time. Everyone felt they were pulling together against the enemy. I don’t remember anyone begrudging the sacrifices we made stateside because it was nothing compared to what our men were facing abroad.
When one thinks of face-to-face combat, bombs dropping everywhere, it’s hard to worry much about stockings, rations, and such. We all had ration books that we had to offer when we bought something. Kind of a voucher to allow for the purchase. In fact, my daughter still has one from that time.
We’ve not seen such patriotism in this country for many a year now. Everyone is at odds with each other. It doesn’t seem the same country we all fought for, and some gave their lives for. I shudder to think what some of those men would say if they came back today. They would be astonished and ashamed, I expect, in how the world has turned out.
But Old Glory still flies!
War Story writing prompt entry
My daughter always teased me about serving in two armed forces. I’d no sooner served my stint in the Navy than the Army drafted me for World War II.
Luckily, I stayed stateside where I taught marksmanship to recruits. While it may seem relatively unimportant to some to serve in this capacity, I always kept it in mind that someone had to teach these young men how to shoot. I was stationed in Abilene, Texas at the time, and that’s where we learned we were about to have an addition to our family. I always called her my “little Texan” because of that.
It was a hard time to have a baby. Everything was in such shortage. Everything! From gasoline to baby bottles. Heaven forbid if we lost a nipple from a bottle because we had to improvise until we could find a replacement.
Gasoline was rationed, of course, and we could only drive 35 miles per hour, no matter what. It seems strange to youngsters today that we had to go that slow, even on the highways. That was before freeways.
There was a special kind of camaraderie during this time. Everyone felt they were pulling together against the enemy. I don’t remember anyone begrudging the sacrifices we made stateside because it was nothing compared to what our men were facing abroad.
When one thinks of face-to-face combat, bombs dropping everywhere, it’s hard to worry much about stockings, rations, and such. We all had ration books that we had to offer when we bought something. Kind of a voucher to allow for the purchase. In fact, my daughter still has one from that time.
We’ve not seen such patriotism in this country for many a year now. Everyone is at odds with each other. It doesn’t seem the same country we all fought for, and some gave their lives for. I shudder to think what some of those men would say if they came back today. They would be astonished and ashamed, I expect, in how the world has turned out.
But Old Glory still flies!
Luckily, I stayed stateside where I taught marksmanship to recruits. While it may seem relatively unimportant to some to serve in this capacity, I always kept it in mind that someone had to teach these young men how to shoot. I was stationed in Abilene, Texas at the time, and that’s where we learned we were about to have an addition to our family. I always called her my “little Texan” because of that.
It was a hard time to have a baby. Everything was in such shortage. Everything! From gasoline to baby bottles. Heaven forbid if we lost a nipple from a bottle because we had to improvise until we could find a replacement.
Gasoline was rationed, of course, and we could only drive 35 miles per hour, no matter what. It seems strange to youngsters today that we had to go that slow, even on the highways. That was before freeways.
There was a special kind of camaraderie during this time. Everyone felt they were pulling together against the enemy. I don’t remember anyone begrudging the sacrifices we made stateside because it was nothing compared to what our men were facing abroad.
When one thinks of face-to-face combat, bombs dropping everywhere, it’s hard to worry much about stockings, rations, and such. We all had ration books that we had to offer when we bought something. Kind of a voucher to allow for the purchase. In fact, my daughter still has one from that time.
We’ve not seen such patriotism in this country for many a year now. Everyone is at odds with each other. It doesn’t seem the same country we all fought for, and some gave their lives for. I shudder to think what some of those men would say if they came back today. They would be astonished and ashamed, I expect, in how the world has turned out.
But Old Glory still flies!
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Writing Prompt Please write a war related story with a minimum of 300 words and a maximum of 700 words. One picture, without words, may be included, author notes acceptable, one video may be in author notes, and no music or animation. Please use one color font. A dedication line may be included which does not count toward word count. Entry must reflect the theme of war. |
Written from my daddy's viewpoint. In 1972, he was killed while he was walking by a drunk driver.
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