WWII Women.

[Wild Root]

Well guys and GI’s, I wanted to take a moment and share some photos of the great women who help in every aspect of the war effort. These images are so clear you would have thought they were taken yesterday.

Some times we forget how big a roll the girl next door helped out our GI’s over seas and here on the home front. This is one of my favorite subjects pertaining to WWII. The US home front to me tells such a story.

Songs like They’re Ether To Young Or too Old was really true! One like I like from the song is “What’s good is in the Army, what’s left will never harm me!� It was true to a point and that’s why when I talk to some lady’s from that era they tell me how they used to dance with their sisters and friends seeing there weren’t enough males to go around.

What a tremendous era! Look at some of these photos and see how they dressed for a factory job! It’s getting hard to see girls dress nice to dances over here now days! Arg, what a lazy generation I have to endure!

Any way, enjoy these images and hope they pay homage to our fighting and working ladies of the Second World War.

Root.

[Hondo]

Tremendous era: Thanks Root, Couldn’t have said it better, very true, to be truthful, I only wish I had discovered this era much sooner, what an era, I greatly admire all those who served, and of course the women.
Women in this era were I my opinion honest, loyal, sweet as honey, not like girls today self centered, money hungry hounds. Give me an old fashion babe, that girl next door.

[jitterbugdoll]

Wonderful photos, Root! How ironic, too--I stopped at the library yesterday and picked up two books about women in WWII. One is about women correspondents, and looks very interesting. There is also a wonderful book about the nurses during the war--great stories and I learned a lot from it. It’s called “No Time for Fear� and is an excellent book.

Speaking of songs, have you heard "Uncle Sam's Blues"? One line reads "Uncle Sam ain't no woman, but he sure can take your man".
And how about Dinah Washington singing the "4F Blues"? Good stuff, that was!

[Wild Root]

Thank you Doll, I knew you might enjoy those rich color photos!

I once knew a fine lady from Church that had served in WWII. She was a Nurse and she told me some stories that made me laugh and some that didn't. Funny, no one really enjoyed the stories but me. It's so sad that some one who has such experiences become too old to listen to in most peoples minds. They think: Oh, I don't want to talk to them because they'll talk my ear off about the war or what ever. How rude is that! I remember every Veterans Day weekend I'd be at Church and they would ask for all the Veterans to stand so they could honor them. Well, this lady stood every time till she died. Some asked her why she did stand thinking she didn't do anything special well; she told them that she was a WWII Vet. She was the only Nurse of that war in my Church. She has now passed on, what a sweet gal she was.

Yes Hondo, it seems that women back in those days were something special. But, we must remember the human race has been around a long time and there were still those who were crooked, self centered, cheating, back biting, gossiping and the list goes on. It's mostly the strong, brave and true that stand out in history and we honor.

Cheers,

Root.

[jitterbugdoll]

That makes me sad, Root. I always enjoy listening to stories from the war, and find that I am approached by many people because I remind them of their wife or mother. That seems to break down the barriers and get people to start talking!

My grandfather was a corpsman in the war, but he has said almost nothing about his experiences. I can only imagine the horrors he must have seen, and for women and men to repeat what they saw can be a pretty difficult thing to do. You would really enjoy the book I mentioned above; the stories were incredible--some neat, and some just plain sad. The ones about 'specialing' a patient still make me a little teary-eyed.

Have you looked into participating in one of the projects interviewing veterans? I hope to start doing this soon, as I think it is important to record as many stories as possible while we still have the chance.

[Wild Root]

That sounds great Doll, I'd love to participate in interviewing the Vets. In fact, Josh Curtis has done lost of them! He runs into Vets a lot and he talks with them. He has recorded discussions with Vets and Hollywood actors of that time. In fact, one of his best friends flew B-29's in the Pacific and his friend gave him his flight helmet, life vets, and the button off the wheel of HIS B-29! It gets cooler then that, Josh once told me about a video he made. He told me his friend shot color footage on most of his missions and also on base. He has footage of inside the cockpit and you see the very wheel button that Josh was given! There is even real footage of them coming into flack, even see a B-29 in their group get struck down and crash into Mt. Fuji! Josh took the original 8mm film and converted it to VHS and put it to music. The music he chose was perfect! It's like looking into a clear window of time.

Most of Josh's collection is from vets, they give him this stuff because he loves it so much and they love the fact that he is so passionate about it.

As a side note he'll be getting an original nose section to a B-25J soon! I'll take some photos when he gets it.

Take care,

Root.

PS. Doll, nice posters! Very nice.

[jitterbugdoll]

I'm friends with a nice lady that I met while volunteering at a hospital (we worked at the information desk together.) She is the neatest person, and was amazingly independent and ahead of her time, especially for the era. She brought her yearbooks to work one day (from 1939-40), and pointed out her friends and schoolmates. I remember that she pointed out quite a few that had been killed in the war...

Her husband, whom I never met (he died a year ago), was a navigator on a PBY. She told me some neat stories about him--for example, he was originally a pilot, but apparently made a rough landing in front of some higher ups and was immediately switched to a navigator!
At one point, his plane crashed in the pacific, and he and the crew were stranded for days in shark infested waters. She met him after the war, and married him in 1948. Wished I could have met him in person, as I think I would have enjoyed talking to him as much as I like talking to her…

What do you think of the color footage they recently released? I occasionally catch one of the shows on TV, and it always amazes me how crisp and clear the images are.

Josh is a really neat guy! The last time I spoke to him he was planning to travel to Kingman to pick up some bombs. Did he ever end up doing that?

I really like this poster, too:

[Wild Root]

(Josh is a really neat guy! The last time I spoke to him he was planning to travel to Kingman to pick up some bombs. Did he ever end up doing that?)

Yes, he did get them! I saw them last time I was over. So cool!!! Also has an original pilot side windshield from a B-17! (Hondo, don't drool) It's 40's bullet proof glass and I couldn't even lift it! So heavy!!! Also, it's still in its wooden frame ready for shipping! The dumb thing is N.O.S!

Very cool people you mention Doll! I wish you could have talked to her Husband too! The stories he could have told would have been really cool.

Take care,

Root.

[jitterbugdoll]

You know, Root, I'd love to hear stories just from my grandfather! But, like I said, he has said little to nothing about his experience. We only recently found out that he had been stationed in Waikiki--I'll tell you, were shocked when he mentioned this because it was just a matter of fact statement, and no one had been asking him anything related to the war. I asked him to tell me some memories about the 40s in general, but I think he couldn't understand why a young person would be interested (I'll bet this is true for a lot of people who lived them) and didn’t really say much. I did find out that his favorite song was ‘Cherokee’, and that he used to play it on every jukebox he came across.

Anyway, back to the women! I picked up a book-on-CD collection from the library a couple of weeks ago--it's called Love Letters from WWII. Neat stories, some from women, some from men. Quite a few women on the book worked in USOs or in aircraft plants, and they even spoke with an American women who joined the Women’s RAF (she had been adopted by Welsh parents and it took some doing before she was allowed to join up.)

[Hondo]

Root/jitterbugdoll: Lyrics/music are cool, I always drool over the B-17s, I'm on some kind of mission these days, seeking info, stories on this era. Its true, really sad were losing many from this era. After so many dumb dames, I seek perhaps the impossible, well its one for my baby and one for the road....Cheers, man do I have the blues.....
Victory at Sea had some good color films, but I heard the DVD sucks, film editing and sound. I enjoy seeing that B-29 video, even the old B/W films from actual battle flights are awesome! My dad was in the Navy last few years of the war in the pacific, The Navy lost so many sailors/soldiers/ships near the end, he rarely talks of the time but I'll join him and my younger brother to meet some of his pals/shipmates/vets at a reunion in San Diego, these guys saw some of the heaviest action on Sipan/Iwo Jima/Okinawa, honor a vet

Lets listen:

Uncle Sam's Blues
~Traditional


I got my questionnaire baby, you know I'm heading off for war
I got my questionnaire baby, you know I'm heading off for war
Well I'm gonna kill somebody, no one knows what for

Well Uncle Sam ain't a woman, but you know he sure can take your man
Well Uncle Sam ain't a woman, but you know he sure can take your man
There's 45,000 guys in the service and hes got them doing something they just don't understand

Well I'm going to do some fighting, of that I can be sure
Well I'm going to do some fighting, of that I can be sure
Well know I wan't to kill somebody, won't have to break no law

I got my questionnaire baby, you know I'm heading off for war
I got my questionnaire baby, you know I'm heading off for war
Well know I wan't to kill somebody, won't have to break no law

Wow what a neat song, I love this picture below



BTW: I had to find out what "Wildroot cream oil is